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THE    PEESONAL    LIFE 


OF 


DAVID    LIVINGSTONE 

LL.D.,  D.C.L. 


CHIEFLY  FROM  HIS 

UXPUBLISHED  JOUIiNALS  AND   CORRESPONDENCE 

IN  THE  POSSESSION  OF  HIS  FAMILY 


BY 

WILLIA:M  GARDEN"  BLAIKIE,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

NEW    COLLEGE,  EDINBURGH 


5^it|)  Portrait  anJj  ;fHa9 


XEW    YORK 

HARPER  &  BROTHERS,  FRANKLIX  SQUARE 
18S1 


1340' 


'A 


;i  PREFACE. 

r 

The  purpose  of  this  work  is  to  make  the  world  better 
acquainted  with  the  character  of  Livingstone.  His  dis- 
coveries and  researches  have  been  given  to  the  pubhc  in 
his  own  books,  but  his  modesty  led  him  to  say  httle  m 
these  of  himself,  and  those  who  knew  him  best  feel  that 
httle  is  known  of  the  strength  of  his  affections,  the  depth 
and  purity  of  his  devotion,  or  the  intensity  of  his  aspha- 
tions  as  a  Christian  missionary.  The  growth  of  his  char- 
acter and  the  providential  shaping  of  his  career  are  also 
matters  of  remarkable  interest,  of  which  not  much  has 
yet  been  made  known. 

An  attempt  has  been  made  in  this  volume,  hkewise, 
to  present  a  more  complete  history  of  his  life  than  has  yet 
appeared.  Many  chapters  of  it  are  opened  up  of  which 
the  pubhc  have  hitherto  known  httle  or  nothing.  It  has 
not  been  deemed  necessary  to  dwell  on  events  recorded  in 
his  pubhshed  Travels,  except  for  the  purpose  of  connecting 
the  narrative  and  making  it  complete.  Even  on  these, 
however,  it  has  been  found  that  not  a  httle  new  lio-ht 
and  colour  may  be  tlu'own  from  his  correspondence  witli 
his  friends  and  his  unpublished  Journals. 

Much  pauis  has  bpen  taken  to  show  the  unity  and 


iv  PREFACE. 

symmetry  of  his  character.  As  a  man,  a  Christian,  a 
missionary,  a  philanthropist,  and  a  scientist,  Livmgstone 
ranks  with  the  greatest  of  our  race,  and  shows  the 
minimum  of  infirmity  in  connection  with  the  maximum 
of  goodness.  Nothing  can  .  be  more  telhng  than  his 
Hfe  as  an  evidence  of  the  truth  and  power  of  Chris- 
tianity, as  a  plea  for  Christian  Missions  and  civilisation, 
or  as  a  demonstration  of  the  true  connection  between 
religion  and  science. 

So  many  friends  have  helped  in  this  book  that  it  is 
impossible  to  thank  all  in  a  preface.  Most  of  them  are 
named  in  the  body  of  the  work.  Special  acknowledg- 
ments, however,  are  due  to  the  more  immediate  members 
of  Dr.  Livingstone's  family,  at  whose  request  the  work 
was  undertaken ;  also  to  his  sisters,  the  Misses  Livingstone 
of  Hamilton,  to  Mr.  Young  of  Kelly,  to  the  venerable 
Dr.  Moffat,  and  Mrs.  Yavassem-  his  daughter.  The  use  of 
valuable  collections  of  letters  has  been  given  by  the  fol- 
lowing (in  addition  to  the  friends  ah-eady  named)  : — The 
Directors  of  the  London  Missionary  Society ;  Dr.  Kisdon 
Bennett ;  Eev.  G.  D.  Watt ;  Rev.  Joseph  Moore ;  Rev. 
W.  Thompson,  Cape  Town ;  J.  B.  Braithwaite,  Esq. ; 
representatives  of  the  late  Sn-  B.  I.  Murchison,  Bart.,  and 
of  the  late  Sir  Thomas  Maclear ;  Eev.  Horace  Waller, 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Webb  of  Newstead  Abbey,  Mr.  F.  Fitch,  of 
London,  Bev.  Dr.  Stewart  of  Lovedale,  and  Senhor  Nunes 
of  Quihmane.  Other  friends  have  forwarded  letters  of 
less  importance.  Some  of  the  letters  have  reached  the 
hands  of  the  writer  after  the  completion  of  the  book, 
and  have  therefore  been  used  bat  sparingly. 


PREFACE.  V 

The  recovery  of  an  important  private  journal  of  Dr. 
Livingstone,  which  had  been  lost  at  the  time  when  the 
Missionary  Travels  was  published,  has  thrown  much  new 
hght  on  the  part  of  his  life  immediately  preceding  his 
first  great  journey. 

In  the  spelling  of  African  proper  names,  Dr.  Moffat  has 
given  valuable  help.  Usually  Livingstone's  own  spelling 
has  been  followed. 

A   Map    has  been   specially   prepared,   in   M^hich   the 

geographical  references  in  the  volume  are   shown,  which 

will  enable  the  reader  to  follow  Livingstone's  movements 

from  place  to  place. 

With  so  much  material,  it  would  have  been  easier  to 

write  a  life  in  two  volumes  than  in  one ;  but  for  obvious 

reasons  it  has  been  deemed  desirable  to  restrict  it  to  the 

present  limits.     The   author    could   wish  for  no   higher 

honour  than  to  have  his  name   associated  with  that  of 

Livingstone,  and  can  desire  no  greater  pleasure  than  that 

of  conveying  to  other  mmds  the  hnpressions  that  have 

been  left  on  his  own. 

W.  G.  BLAIKIE. 

Edinburgh,  9  Palmerston  Road. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    I. 

EAKLY  YEARS. 
A.D.   1S13-1836. 

PAGE 

Ulva — The  Livingstones — Traditions  of  Ulva  life — The  "Baiighting-time" — 
"  Kirsty's  Rock  " — Removal  of  Livingstone's  grandfather  to  Blantyre — 
Highland  blood — Neil  Livingstone — His  marriage  to  Agnes  Hnnter — Her 
grandfather  and  father — Monument  to  Neil  and  Agnes  Livingstone  in 
Hamilton  Cemetery — David  Livingstone  born  19th  March  1813 — Boyhood 
— At  home — In  school — David  goes  into  Blantyre  Mill — First  earnings — 
Night-school — His  habits  of  reading — Natural-history  expeditions — Great 
spiritual  change  in  his  twentieth  year — Dick's  Philosophy  of  a  Future 
State — He  resolves  to  be  a  missionary — Influence  of  occupation  at  Blantyre 
— Sympathy  vyith  the  i)eople— Thomas  Burke  and  David  Hogg — Practical 
character  of  his  religion,  ..........       J 


CHAPTER   II. 

MISSIONARY  PREPARATION. 

A.D.  1836-1840. 

His  desire  to  be  a  missionary  to  China — Medical  missions — He  studies  at 
Glasgow — Classmates  and  teachers — He  applies  to  London  Missionary 
Society — His  ideas  of  mission- work — He  is  accepted  provisionally — He 
goes  to  London — to  Ongar — Reminiscences  by  Rev.  Joseph  Moore — by 
Mrs.  Gilbert — by  Rev.  Isaac  Taylor — Nearly  rejected  by  the  Directors — 
Returns  to  Ongar — to  London — Letter  to  his  sister — Reminiscences  by 
Dr.  Risdon  Bennett — Promise  to  Professor  Owen — Impression  of  his 
character  on  his  friends  and  fellow-students — Rev.  R.  Moffat  in  England 
— Livingstone  intei'csted — Could  not  be  sent  to  China — Is  appointed  to 
Africa — Providential  links  in  his  history — Illness — Last  visits  to  his 
home — Receives  Medical  diploma — Parts  from  his  family, 


viii  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER    III. 

FIRST    TWO   YEARS    IN    AFRICA. 
A.D.  1S41-1S43. 

PACE 

His  orrlinatiou — Voj'age  out — At  Eio  de  Janeiro — At  the  Cape — He  proceeds 
to  Kuruman — Letters — Journey  of  700  miles  to  Bechuana  country — Selec- 
tion of  site  for  new  station — Second  excursion  to  Bechuana  country — Letter 
to  his  sister — Influence  with  chiefs — Bubi — Construction  of  a  water-dam 
— Sekomi — Woman  seized  by  a  lion — The  Bakaa — Sebehwe — Letter  to 
Dr.  liisdon  Bennett — Detention  at  Kuruman — He  visits  Sebehwe's  village 
— Bakhatlas — Sechele,  chief  of  Bakwains — Livingstone  translates  hymns 
— Travels  400  miles  on  oxback — Returns  to  Kuruman — Is  authorised  to 
fofm  new  station — Receives  contributions  for  native  missionary — Letters 
to  Directors  on  their  Mission  policy — He  goes  to  new  station — Fellow- 
travellers — Purchase  of  site — Letter  to  Dr.  Bennett — Desiccation  of 
South  Africa — Death  of  a  servant,  Sehamy — Letter  to  his  parents,  .  37 

CHAPTER   IV. 

FIRST  TWO  STATIONS — 3LVB0TSA  AND  CHONUANE 

A.D.  1S43-1S47. 

Description  of  Mabotsa — A  favourite  hymn^General  reading — ilabotsa 
infested  with  lions — Livingstone's  encounter — The  native  deacon  who 
saved  him — His  Sunday-school — Marriage  to  Mary  Moffat — Work  at 
Mabotsa — Proj^osed  institution  for  training  native  agents — Letter  to  his 
mother — Trouble  at  Mabotsa — Noble  sacrifice  of  Livingstone — Goes  to 
Sechele  and  the  Bakwains — Xew  station  at  Chonuane — Interest  shown 
by  Sechele — Journeys  eastward — The  Boers  and  the  Transvaal — Their 
occupation  of  the  country,  and  treatment  of  the  natives — Work  among 
the  Bakwains — Livingstone's  desire  to  move  on — Theological  conflict  at 
home — His  view  of  it — His  scientific  labours  and  miscellaneous  employ- 
ments,    .         ...         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .     C5 

CHAPTER  V. 

THIRD   STATION — KOLOBENG. 

A.D.  1S47-1S52. 

Want  of  rain  at  Chonuane — Removal  to  Kolobeng— House-building  and 
public  works — Hojieful  prospects — Letters  to  Mr.  Watt,  his  sister,  and 
Dr.  Bennett — The  church  at  Kolobeng — Pure  communion — Conversion  of 
Sechele — Letter   from  his   brother   Charles — His    history^Livingstone's 


CONTENTS.  ix 

PAGE 

relations  with  the  Boers — He  cannot  get  native  teachers  planted  in  the 
east-^;;EesoJves  to  explore  northwards — Extracts  from  Journal — Scarcity 
of  water — Wild  animals  and  other  risks — Custom-house  robberies  and 
annoj'auces — Visit  from  Secretary  of  London  Missionary  Society — Mani- 
fold employments  of  Livingstone — Studies  in  Sichuana — His  reflection  on 
this  period  of  his  life  while  detained  at  Mauyuema  iu  1870,      .         .         .     S-i 


CHAPTER   VI. 

KOLOBENG  COnthmCil — LAKE  'NGAMI. 

A.D.  1849-1852. 

Kolobeng  failing  through  drought — Sebituane's  country  and  the  Lake 
'Ngami — Livingstone  sets  out  with  Messrs.  Oswell  and  Murray — Rivers 
Zouga  and  Tamauak'le — Old  ideas  of  the  interior  revolutionised — Enthu- 
siasm of  Livingstone — Discovers  Lake  'Ngami — Obliged  to  return — Prize 
from  Pioyal  Geographical  Society — Second  expedition  to  the  lake,  with 
wife  and  children — Children  attacked  by  fever — Again  obliged  to  return 
— Conviction  as  to  healthier  sjjot  beyond — Idea  of  finding  passage  to  sea 
either  west  or  east — Birth  and  death  of  a  child — Family  visits  Kuruman 
— Third  expedition,  again  with  family — He  hopes  to  find  a  new  locality — 
Perils  of  the  journey — He  reaches  Sebituane — The  Chief's  illness  and 
death — Distress  of  Livingstone — Mr.  Oswell  and  he  go  on  to  Linyanti — 
Discovery  of  the  Upper  Zambesi — No  locality  found  for  settlement — More 
extended  journey  necessary — He  returns — Birth  of  Oswell  Livingstone — 
Crisis  in  Livingstone's  life — His  guiding  principles — New  plans — The 
Makololo  begin  to  practise  slave-trade — New  thoughts  about  commerce — 
Letters  to  Directors — The  Bakwains — Pros  and  cons  of  his  new  plan — 
His  unabated  missionary  zeal — He  goes  with  his  family  to  the  Cape — His 
literary  activity,      .  '      .         .         .         .         .         .         .         •         .         .98 


CHAPTER   VII. 

FROM  THE  CAPE  TO  LINYANTI. 
A.D.  1852-1853. 

Unfavourable  feeling  at  Cape  Town — Departure  of  Mrs.  Livingstone  and 
children — Livingstone's  detention  and  difficulties — Letter  to  his  wife — to 
Agnes — Occupations  at  Cape  Town — The  Astronomer-Royal — Livingstone 
leaves  the  Cape  and  reaches  Kuruman — Destruction  of  Kolobeng  by  the 
Boers — Letters  to  his  wife  and  Rev.  J.  Moore — His  resolution  to  open  up 
Africa  or  'perisli — Arrival  at  Linyanti — Unhealthiness  of  the  country — 
Thoughts  on  setting  out  for  coast — Sekeletu's  kindness — Livingstone's 
missionary  activity — Death  of  Mpepe,  and  of  his  father — Meeting  with 


CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Ma-mochisane — Barotse  country — Determines  to  go  to  Loanda — Heathen- 
ism unadulterated — Taste  for  the  beautiful — Letter  to  his  children — to  his 
father — Last  Sunday  at  Linyauti — Prospect  of  his  falling,         .         .         .  129 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

FROM  LINYANTI  TO  LOANDA. 

A.D.  1853-1854. 

Difficulties  and  hardships  of  journey — His  travelling  kit — Four  books — His 
Journal — Mode  of  travelling — Beauty  of  country — Repulsiveness  of  the 
people — Their  religious  belief — The  negro  —  Preaching- — The  magic 
lantern — Loneliness  of  feeling — Slave-trade — Management  of  the  natives 
— Danger  from  Chiboque — from  another  chief — Livingstone  ill  of  fever — 
At  the  Quango — Attachment  of  followers — "  The  good  time  coming  " — 
Portuguese  settlements — Great  kindness  of  the  Portuguese — Arrives  at 
Loanda — Picceived  by  Mr.  Gabriel — His  great  friendship — No  letters — 
News  through  Mr.  Gabriel — Livingstone  becomes  acquainted  with  naval 
officers — Besolves  to  go  back  to  Linyantiaud  make  for  East  Coast — Letter 
to  his  wife — Correspondence  with  Mr.  Maclear — Accuracy  of  his  observa- 
tions— Sir  John  Herschel — Geographical  Society  award  their  gold  medal 
— Remarks  of  Lord  Ellesmere, 153 


CHAPTER  IX. 

FROM  LOANDA  TO  QUILIMANE. 

A.D.  1854-1856. 

Livingstone  sets  out  from  Loanda — Joiirney  back — Effects  of  slavery — 
Letter  to  his  wife — Severe  attack  of  fever — He  reaches  the  "Barotse  conn- 
try — Day  of  thanksgiving — His  efforts  for  the  good  of  his  men — Anxieties 
of  the  Moffats — Mr.  Moffat's  journey  to  Mosilikatse — Box  at  Linyauti — 
Letter  from  Mrs.  Moffat — Letters  to  Mrs.  Livingstone,  INIr.  Moffat,  and 
Mrs.  Moffat — Kindness  of  Sekeletu — New  escort — He  sets  out„for  the 
East  Coast — Discovers  the  Victoria  Falls — The  healthy  longitudinal  ridges 
— Pedestrianism — Great  dangers — Narrow  escapes — Triumph  of  the  spirit 
of  trust  in  God — Favourite  texts — Beference  to  Captain  M'Clure's  experi- 
ence— Chief  subjects  of  thought — Structure  of  the  continent — SirPioderick 
Murchison  anticipates  his  discovery — Letters  to  Geographical  Society — 
First  letter  from  Sir  Roderick  Murchison — Missionary  labour — Monas- 
teries— Protestant  mission-stations  wanting  in  self-support — Letter  to 
Directors — Fever  not  so  serious  an  obstruction  as  it  seemed — His  own 
hardships — Theories  of  mission-work — Expansion  v.  Concentration — Views 


CONTENTS.  xi 

PAGE 

of  a  missionary  statesman^He  reaches  Tette — Letter  to  King  of  Portugal 
— to  Sir  Roderick  Murchison — Eeaches  Senna — Quilimane — Retrospect — 
Letter  from  Directors — Goes  to  Mauritius — Voyage  home — Narrow  escape 
from  shipwreck  in  Bay  of  Tunis- — He  reaches  England,  Dec.  1856 — News 
of  hia  father's  death, 170 


CHAPTER  X. 

riRST  VISIT  HOME. 

A.D.  1S56-1S57. 

Mrs.  Livingstone — Her  intense  anxieties — Her  poetical  welcome — Congratu- 
latory letters  from  Mrs.  and  Dr.  Moffat — Meeting  of  welcome  of  Royal 
Geographical  Society — of  London  Missionary  Society — Meeting  in  Mansion 
House — Enthusiastic  public  meeting  at  Cape  Town — Livingstone  visits 
Hamilton — Returns  to  London  to  write  his  book — Letter  to  Mr.  Maclear 
—  Dr.  Risdon  Bennett's  reminiscences  of  this  period — Mr.  Frederick  Fitch's 
— Interview  with  Prince  Consort — Honours — Publication  and  great  success 
of  Missmiary  Travels — Character  and  design  of  the  book — Why  it  was 
not  more  of  a  missionary  record — Handsome  conduct  of  publisher — - 
Generous  iise  of  the  profits — Letter  to  a  lady  in  Carlisle  vindicating  the 
character  of  his  speeches,  .         .         .         .         .         .         .         „         .198 


CHAPTER  XL 

riEST  VISIT  HOME — continued. 

A.D.  1857-1858. 

Livingstone  at  Dublin,  at  British  Association — Letter  to  his  wife — He  meets 
the  Chamber  of  Commerce  at  Manchester — At  Glasgow,  receives  honours 
from  Corporation,  University,  Faculty  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  United 
Presbyterians,  Cotton-spinners  —  His  speeches  in  reply  —  His  brother 
Charles  joins  him — Interesting  meeting  and  speech  at  Hamilton — Recep- 
tion from  "  Literary  and  Scientific  Institute  of  Blantyre  " — Sympathy 
with  operatives — Quick  apprehension  of  all  public  qviestions — His  social 
.views  in  advance  of  the  age — He  plans  a  People's  Cafe — Visit  to  Edin- 
burgh— More  honours — Letter  to  Mr.  Maclear — Interesting  visit  to  Cam- 
bridge— Lectures  there — Professor  Sedgwick's  remarks  on  his  visit — ■ 
Livingstone's  great  satisfaction — Relations  to  London  Missionary  Society 
— He  severs  his  connection — Proposal  of  Government  expedition — He 
accepts    consulship    and    command    of    expedition  —  Kindness   of    Lords 


li  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Palmerston  and  Clarendon — The  Portuguese  A«nbassador — Livingstone 
proposes  to  go  to  Portugal — Is  dissuaded — Lord  Clarendon's  letter  to 
Sekelotu — Results  of  Livingstone's  visit  to  England — Farewell  Ijanquet, 
February  1S5S — Interview  with  the  Queen — Valedictory  letters — Professor 
Sedgwick  and  Sir  Roderick  Murchison — Arrangements  for  expedition — 
Dr.,  !Mrs.,  and  Oswald  Livingstone  set  sail  from  Liverpool — Letters  to 
children, 217 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE  ZAMBESI,  AND  FIRST  EXPLORATIONS  OF  THE  SHIRE. 

A.D.  {85S-1S59. 

Dr.  and  Mrs.  Livingstone  sail  in  the  "  Pearl  " — Characteristic  instructions  to 
members  of  Expedition — Dr.  Livingstone  conscious  of  difficult  position — 
Letter  to  Robert — Sierra  Leone — Effects  of  British  Squadron  and  of 
Christian  Missions — Dr.  and  Mrs.  Moffat  at  Cape  Town — Splendid  recep- 
tion there — Illness  of  Mrs.  Livingstone — She  remains  behind — The  five 
years  of  the  Expedition — Letter  to  Mr.  James  Youug — to  Dr.  Moffat — • 
Kongone  entrance  to  Zambesi — Collision  with  Naval  Officer — Disturbed 
state  of  the  country — Trip  to  Kebrabasa  Rapids — Dr.  Livingstone  ajiplies 
for  new  steamer — Willing  to  pay  for  one  himself — Ex]iloration  of  the 
Shire — Murchison  Cataracts — Extracts  from  private  Journal — Discovery 
of  Lake  Shirwa — Correspondence — Letter  to  Agnes  Livingstone — Trip  to 
Tette — Kroomen  and  two  members  of  Expedition  dismissed — Livingstone's 
vindication — Discovery  of  Lake  Nyassa — Bright  hopes  for  the  future- 
Idea  of  a  colony — Generosity  of  Livingstone — Letters  to  Mr.  Maclear, 
Mr.  Young,  and  Sir  Roderick  Murchison  —  His  sympathy  with  the 
"  honest  poor  " — He  hears  of  the  birth  of  his  youngest  daughter,      .         .  241 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

GOING  HOME  WITH  THE  MAKOLOLO. 
A.D.  ISGO. 

Down  to  Kongouo — State  of  the  ship — Further  delay — Letter  to  Secretary 
of  Universities  Mission — Letter  to  Mr.  Braithwaite — At  Tette — Miss 
Whately's  sugar-mill — With  his  brother  and  Kirk  at  Kebrabasa — Mode  of 
travelling — Reappearance  of  old  friends — African  warfare  and  its  effects 
—  Desolation — A  Eurojjean  colony  desirable — Escape  from  rhinoceros — 
Rumours  of  Moffat — The  Portuguese  local  Governors  oi)pose  Livingstone 
— He  becomes  unpopular  with  them — Letter  to  Mr.  Young — Wants  of  the 


CONTENTS.  xiii 

PAGE 

comitry — Tlie  Makololo — Approach  home — Some  are  disappointeJ — News 
of  the  death  of  the  Loudon  missionaries,  the  Helmores  and  others — Letter 
to  Di-.  Moffat — The  Victoria  Falls  re-examined — Sekeletu  ill  of  leprosy — 
Treatment  and  recovery — His  disappointment  at  not  seeing  Mrs.  Living- 
stone— Efforts  for  the  spiritual  good  of  the  Makololo — Careful  observa- 
tions in  jSTatural  History— The  last  of  the  "Ma-Eobert" — Cheering 
l^rospect  of  the  Universities  Mission — Letter  to  Mr.  Moore — to  Mr. 
Young — He  wishes  anotiier  ship — Letter  to  Sir  Roderick  Murchison  on 
the  rumoured  journey  of  Silva  Porto, 265 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

ROVUMA  AND  NYASSA — UNIVERSITIES  MISSION. 

A.D.  1SG1-18G2. 

Beginning  of  1861 — Arrival  of  the  "Pioneer,"  and  of  the  agents  of  Univer- 
sities Mission — Cordial  welcome — Livingstone's  catholic  feelings — Ordered 
to  explore  the  Eovuma — Bishop  Mackenzie  goes  with  him — Returns  t6 
the  Shir6 — Tiirning-point  of  prosperity  past — Difficult  navigation — The 
slave-sticks — Bishop  settles  at  Magomero — Hostilities  between  Manganja 
and  Ajawa — Attack  of  Mission  party  by  Ajawa — Livingstone's  advice  to 
Bishop  regarding  them — Letter  to  his  son  Robert — Livingstone,  Kirk,  and 
Charles  start  for  Lake  Nyassa — Party  robbed  at  north  of  Lake — Dismal 
activity  of  the  slave-trade — Awful  mortality  in  the  process — Livingstone's 
fondness  for  Punch — Letter  to  Mr.  Young — Joy  at  departure  of  new 
steamer  "  Lady  Nyassa  " — Colonisation  project — Letter  against  it  from 
Sir  R.  Murchison — Hears  of  Dr.  Stewart  coming  out  from  Free  Church  of 
Scotland — Visit  at  the  ship  from  Bishop  Mackenzie — News  of  defeat  of 
Ajawa  by  missionaries  —  Anxiety  of  Livingstone — Arrangements  for 
"Pioneer"  to  go  to  Kongone  for  new  steamer  and  friends  from  home, 
then  go  to  Ruo  to  meet  Bishop — "Pioneer"  detained — Dr.  Livingstone's 
anxieties  and  depression  at  New  Year — "  Pioneer "  misses  man-of-war 
"  Gorgon  " — At  length  "  Gorgon  "  appears  with  brig  from  England  and 
"Lady  Nyassa" — Mrs.  Livingstone  and  other  ladies  on  board — Living- 
stone's meeting  with  his  wife,  and  with  Dr.  Stewart — Stewart's  recollec- 
tions— Difficulties  of  navigation — Captain  Wilson  of  "  Gorgon  "  goes  up 
river  and  hears  of  death  of  Bishop  Mackenzie  and  Mr.  Burrup — Great 
distress — Misrepresentations  about  Universities  Mission — Miss  Mackenzie 
and  Mrs.  Burrup  taken  to  "Gorgon" — Dr.  and  Mrs.  Livingstone  return 
to  Shupanga — Illness  and  death  of  Mrs.  Livingstone  there — Extracts 
from  Livingstone's  Journal,  and  letters  to  the  Moffats,  Agnes,  and  the 
Murchisous, ,         ,         «         .         .         •  282 


xW  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XV. 

LAST  TWO  YEARS  OF  THE  EXPEDITION. 
A.D.  1862-1863. 


PAGE 


Livingstone  again  buckles  on  his  armour — Letter  to  Waller — Launch  of 
"Lady  Nyassa" — Too  late  for  season— He  explores  the  Kovuma — Fresh 
activity  of  the  slave^tiadf — Letter  to  Governor  of  Mozambique  about  his 
discoveries — Letter  to  Sir  Thomas  Maclear — Generous  ofifer  of  a  party  of 
Scotchmen — The  Expedition  proceeds  up  Zambesi  with  "  Lady  Nyassa " 
in  tow — Appalling  desolations  of  Marianno — Tidings  of  the  Mission — 
Death  of  Scudamore — of  Dickenson — of  Tlaornton — Illaess  of  Livingstone 
— Dr.  Kirk  and  Charles  Livingstone  go  home — He  proceeds  northwards 
with  Mr.  Rae  and  Mr.  E.  D.  Young  of  the  "  Gorgon" — Attempt  to  carry 
a  boat  over  the  rapids — Defeated — Recall  of  the  Expedition — Livingstone's 
views — Letter  to  Mr.  James  Young— to  Mr.  Waller — Feeling  of  the 
Portuguese  Government — Offer  to  the  Eev.  Dr.  Stewart — Great  dis- 
couragements— Why  did  he  not  go  home? — Proceeds  to  explore  Nyassa 
— Risks  and  sufferings — Occupation  of  his  mind — Natural  History — 
Obliged  to  turn  back — More  desolation — Report  of  his  murder — Kindness 
of  Chinsamba — ^Reaches  the  ship — Letter  from  Bishop  Tozer,  abandoning 
the  Mission — Distress  of  Livingstone — Letter  to  Sir  Thomas  Maclear — 
Progress  of  Dr.  Stewart — Liviugstonia — Livingstone  takes  charge  of  the 
children  of  the  Universities  Mission — Letter  to  his  daughter — Retrospect 
— The  work  of  the  Exx^edition — Livingstone's  plans  for  the  future,  ,         .  3CG 


CHAPTER  XVL 

QUILIMANE  TO  BOMBAY  AND  ENGLAND. 

A.D.  1864. 

Livingstone  returns  the  "Pioneer"  to  the  Navy,  and  is  to  sail  in  the 
"Nyassa"  to  Bombay — Terrific  circular  storm — Imminent  i^eril  of  the 
"  Nyassa" — He  reaches  Mozambique — Letter  to  his  daughter — Pi-oceeds 
to  Zanzibar — His  engineer  leaves  him — Scanty  crew  of  "  Nj'assa  " — 
Livingstone  captain  and  engineer — Peril  of  the  voyage  of  2500  miles — 
Risk  of  the  monsoons — The  "  Nyassa  "  becalmed — Illness  of  the  men — 
Remarks  on  African  travel — Flying-fish — Dolphins — Curiosities  of  his 
Journal — Idea  ojf  a  colony- — Furious  squall — Two  sea-serpents  seen — More 
squalls — The  "Nyassa"  enters  Bombay  harbour — Is  unnoticed — First 
visit  from  ofKcer  with  Custom-house  schedules — How  filled  up — Attention 
of  Sir  Bartle  Frcre  and  others — Livingstone  goes  with  the  Governor  to 
Dapuri — His  feelings  on  landing  in  India — Letter  to  Sir  Thomas  Maclear 

— He  visits  mission-schools,  etc.,  at  Poonah — Slaving  in  Persian  Gulf 

Returns  to  Bombay — Leaves  two  boys  with  Dr.  Wilson — Borrows  pas- 


CONTENTS.  XV 

PAGE 

sage-money  and  sails  for  England — At  Aden — At  Alexandria— Reaches 
Charing  Cross — Encouragement  derived  from  his  Bombay  visit — Two 
projects  contemplated  on  his  way  home,  .......  325 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

SECOND   VISIT    HOME. 

A.D.  1864-1865. 

Dr.  Livingstone  and  Sir  E.  Murchison — At  Lady  Palmerston's  reception — at 
other  places  in  London — Sad  news  of  his  son  Robert — His  early  death 
—  Dr.  Livingstone  goes  to  Scotland — Pays  visits — Consultation  with 
Professor  Syme  as  to  operation — Visit  to  Duke  of  Argyll — to  Ulva — He 
meets  Dr.  Duff — At  launch  of  a  Turkish  frigate — At  Hamilton — Goes 
to  Bath  to  British  Association — Delivers  an  address — Dr.  Colenso — At 
funeral  of  Captain  Speke — Bath  speech  offends  the  Portuguese — Charges 
of  Lacerda — He  visits  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Webb  at  Newstead — Their  great 
hospitality — The  Livingstone  room — He  spends  eight  months  there  writing 
his  book — He  regains  elasticity  and  playfulness — His  book — Charles 
Livingstone's  share — He  uses  his  influence  for  Dr.  Kirk — Delivers  a  lecture 
at  Mansfield — Proposal  made  to  him  by  Sir  R.  Murchison  to  return  to 
Africa — Letter  from  Sir  Roderick — His  reply — He  will  not  cease  to  be  a 
missionary — Letter  to  Mr.  James  Yoiing — Overtures  from  Foreign  Office 
— Livingstone  displeased — At  dinner  of  Royal  Academy — His  speech  not 
reported — President  Lincoln's  assassination — Examination  by  Committee 
of  House  of  Commons — His  opinion  on  the  capacity  of  the  negro — He 
goes  down  to  Scotland — Tom  Brown! s  School  Days — His  mother  very  ill 
— She  rallies — He  goes  to  Oxford — Hears  of  his  mother's  death — Returns 
— He  attends  examination  of  Os well's  school — His  speech — Goes  to 
London,  preparing  to  leaver— Parts  from  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Webb — Stays  with 
Dr.  and  Mi-s.  Hamilton — Last  days  in  England, 338 


CHAPTEE   XVIII. 

FROM    ENGLAND    TO   BOMBAY   AND    ZANZIBAR. 

A.D.  1865-1806. 

Object  of  new  journey — Double  scheme — He  goes  to  Paris  with  Agnes — 
Baron  Hausmann — Anecdote  at  Marseilles — He  reaches  Bombay — Letter 
to  Agnes — Reminiscences  of  Dr.  Livingstone  at  Bombay  by  Rev.  D.  C. 
Boyd — by  Alex.  Brown,  Esq. — Livingstone's  dress — He  visits  the  caves 
of  Kenhari — Rumours  of  murder  of  Baron  van  der  Decken — He  delivers  a 
lecture  at  Bombay — Great  success — He  sells  the  "Lady  Nyassa" — Letter 
to  Mr.  James  Young — Letter  to  Anna  Mary — Hears  that  Dr.  Kirk  has  got 


v'i  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

•in  appointment — Sets  out  for  Zanzibar  in  "Tliiile  " — Letter  to  Mr.  James 
Young — His  experience  at  sea — Letter  to  Agnes — He  reaches  Zanzibar — 
Calls  on  Sultan — Presents  the  "Thule  "  to  hira  from  Bombay  Government 
— Monotony  of  Zanzibar  life — Leaves  in  " Penguin"  for  the  contiueut,      .  358 


CIIAPTEK   XIX. 

rr.OM   ZANZIBAR   TO    UJIJl. 

A.D.  I8G6-1869. 

Dr.  Livingstone  goes  to  month  of  Eovuma — His  prayer — His  company — His 
herd  of  animals — Loss  of  his  buffaloes — Good  spirits  when  setting  out — ■ 
Difficulties  at  Rovuma — Bad  conduct  of  Johanna  men — Dismissal  of  his 
Sepoys — Fresh  horrors  of  slave-trade — Uninhabited  tract — He  reaches 
Lake  Xyassa — Letter  to  his  son  Thomas — Disappointed  hopes — His 
double  aim,  to  teach  natives  ami  rouse  horror  of  slave-trade — Tenor  of 
religious  ai (dresses^ Wikatami  remains  behind — Livingstone  finds  no  alto- 
gether satisfactory  station  for  commerce  and  missions — Question  of  the 
■watershed — Was  it  worth  the  trouble  ? — Overruled  for  good  to  Africa — 
Opinion  of  Sir  Bartle  Frere — At  Marenga's — The  Johanna  men  leave  in  a 
body — Circulate  rumour  of  his  murder — Sir  Pioderick  disbelieves  it — Mr. 
E.  D.  Young  sent  out  with  Search  Expedition — Finds  proof  against 
rumour — Livingstone  half-starved — Loss  of  his  goats — Eeview  of  1866 — 
Pieflections  on  Divine  Providence — Letter  to  Thomas — His  dog  drowned 
— Loss  of  his  medicine-chest — He  feels  sentence  of  death  jiassed  on  hira — 
First  sight  of  Lake  Tanganyika — Detained  at  Chitimba's — Discovery  of 
Lake  Moero — Occupations  during  detention  of  1867 — Great  privations  and 
difficulties — Illness — llebellion  among  his  men — Discovery  of  Lake  Bang- 
weolo — Its  oozy  banks — Detention — Sufferings — He  makes  for  Ujiji — Very 
severe  illness  in  beginning  of  1869  — Ileaches  Ujiji — Finds  his  goods  have 
been  wasted  and  stolen — Most  bitter  disappointment — His  medicines,  etc., 
at  Unyanyembe — Letter  to  Sultau  of  Zanzibar— Letters  to  Dr.  Moffat  and 
his  daughter, 370 


CHAPTER   XX. 

MANYUEMA. 
A.D.  1869-1871. 

He  sets  out  to  explore  ]\Lanyuema  and  the  river  Lualaba — Loss  of  forty-two 
letters— His  feebleness  through  illness — He  arrives  at  Bambarre — Becomes 
acquainted  with  the  soko  or  gorilla- Beaches  the  Luama  river — Magni- 
ficence of  the  country — Eepulsiveness  of  the  people — Cannot  get  a  canoe 


CONTENTS.  xvii 

PAGE 

to  explore  the  Lualaba — Hcas  to  return  to  Banibarre — Letter  to  Thomas, 
and  retrospect  of  his  life — Letter  to  Sir  Thomas  Maclear  and  Mr.  Mann — 
Miss  Tinne — He  is  worse  in  health  than  ever,  yet  resolves  to  add  to  his 
programme  and  go  round  Lake  Bangweolo — Letter  to  Agnes — Review  of 
the  past — He  sets  out  anew  in  a  more  northerly  direction — Overpowered 
by  constant  wet — Reaches  Nyangwe,  the  farthest  point  westward  in  his 
last  expedition — Long  detention — Letter  to  his  brother  John — Sense  of 
difficulties  and  troubles — Nobility  of  his  spii-it — He  sets  off  with  only  three 
attendants  for  the  Lualaba — Suspicions  of  the  natives — Influence  of  Arab 
traders — Frightful  difficulties  of  the  way — Lamed  by  foot-sores — Has  to 
return  to  Bambarre — Long  and  wearisome  detention — Occupations — 
Meditations  and  reveries — Death  no  terror — Unparalleled  position  and 
trials — He  reads  his  Bible  from  beginning  to  end  four  times — Letter  to 
Sir  Thomas  Maclear — to  Agnes — His  delight  at  her  sentiments  about  his 
coming  home — Account  of  the  soko — Grief  to  hear  of  death  of  Lady 
Murchison — Wretched  character  of  men  sent  from  Zanzibar — At  last  sets 
out  with  Mohamad — Difficulties — Slave-trade__Tnnst.  hnn-ililp — Cannot  get 
canoes  for  Lualaba — Long  waiting — New  plan — Frustrated  by  horrible 
massacre  on  banks  of  Lualaba — Frightful  scene — He  must  return  to  Ujiji 
— New  illness — Perils  of  journey  to  L^jiji — Life  three  times  endangered  in 
one  day — Reaches  Ujiji — Shereef  has  sold  off  his  goods — He  is  almost  in 
despair — Meets  Henry  M.  Stanley  and  is  relieved — His  contributions  to 
Natural  Science  during  last  journeys — Professor  Owen  in  the  Quarterly 
Review,    .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .391 


CHAPTEE  XXI. 

LIVINGSTONE    AND    STANLEY. 

A.D.  1871-1872. 

Mr.  Gordon  Bennett  sends  Stanley  in  search  of  Livingstone — Stanley  at 
Zanzibar — Starts  for  Ujiji — Reaches  Unyanyembe — Dangerous  illness — 
War  between  Arabs  and  natives — Narrow  escajie  of  Stanley — -Approach  to 
Ujiji — Meeting  with  Livingstone — Livingstone's  story — Stanley's  news — 
Livingstone's  goods  and  men  at  Bagamoio — Stanley's  account  of  Living- 
stone— Refutation  of  foolish  and  calumnious  charges — They  go  to  the 
north  of  the  lake — Livingstone  resolves  not  to  go  home,  but  to  get  fresh 
men  and  return  to  the  sources — -Letter  to  Agnes — to  Sir  Thomas  Maclear 
— The  travellers  go  to  Unyanyembe — More  plundering  of  stores — Stanley 
leaves  for  Zanzibar — Stanley's  bitterness  of  heart  at  parting — Living- 
stone's intense  gratitude  to  Stanley — He  intrusts  his  Journal  to  him,  and 
commissions  him  to  send  servants  and  stores  from  Zanzibar — Stanley's 
journey  to  the  coast — Finds  Search  Expedition  at  Bagamoio — Proceeds  to 
England — Stanley's  reception — Unpleasant  feelings — Eclaircissemeut — 
England  grateful  to  Stanley,     .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .4.1! 

6 


xviii  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER   XXII. 

FROM   UNYANYEMBE   TO   BANGWEOLO. 
A.D.  1872-1S73. 

PAGE 

Livingstone's  long  wait  at  Unyanyembe — His  plan  of  operations — His  fiftj'- 
ninth  birthday- — Renewal  of__S£lLd£clicatiou — Letters  to  Agues — to  New 
York  Herald — Hardness  of  the  African  battle — Waverings  of  judgment, 
whether  Lualaba  was  the  Nile  or  the  Congo — Extracts  from  Journal — 
Gleams  of  humour — Natural  history -^His  distress  on  hearing  of  the  death 
of  Sir  Roderick  ATiii-p1iiafin--'7'linii(jhtg  t^n  missinn-work — Arrival  of  his 
escort — His  happiness  in  his  new  men — He  starts  from  Unyanyembe — 
Illness— Great  amount  of  rain — Near  Bangweolo — Incessant  moisture — 
Flowers  of  the  forest — Taking  of  observations  regularly  jirosecuted — 
Dreadful  state  of  the  country  from  rain — Hunger — Furious  attack  of  ants 
— Greatness  of  Livingstone's  sufferings — Letters  to  Sir  Thomas  Maelear, 
Mr.  Young,  his  brother,  and  Agnes — His  sixtieth  birthday — Great  weak- 
ness in  April — Sunday  services  and  observations  continued — Increasing  ill- 
ness— The  end  approaching — Last  written  words — Last  day  of  his  travels 
— He  reaches  Chitambo's  village,  in  Ilala — Is  found  on  his  knees  dead,  on 
morning  of  IstMay — Courage  and  affectionof  his  attendants — His  body  em- 
lialmed — Carried  towards  shore — Dangers  and  sufferings  during  the  march 
— The  party  meet  Lieutenant  Cameron  at  Unyanyembe — Determine  to  go 
on — Ruse  at  Kasekera — Death  of  Dr.  Dillon — The  party  reach  Bagamoio, 
and  the  remains  are  placed  on  board  a  cruiser — The  Search  Expeditions 
from  England — to  East  Coast  under  Cameron — to  West  Coast  under 
Grandy — Explanation  of  Expeditions  by  Sir  Henry  Rawlinson — Living- 
stone's remains  brought  to  England — Examined  by  Sir  W.  Fergusson  and 
others — Buried  in  Westminster  Abbey — Inscription  on  slab — Livingstone's 
wish  for  a  forest  grave — Lines  from  Punch — Tributes  to  his  memory — Sir 
Bartle  Frere — The  ia)ice<— Lord  Polwarth — Florence  Nightingale,   .         .  433 


CHAPTER   XXIII. 

POSTHUMOUS    INFLUENCE. 

History  of  his  life  not  completed  at  his  death— Thrilling  effect  of  the  tragedy 
of  Ilala — IJvvL^tift"'"''^  inHiiPnfPnp  the  slave-tradcr— HJs  letters  from  Mau- 
yuema — Sir  Bartle  Frcre's  mission  to  Zanzibar — Successful  efforts  of  Dr. 
I^ii-].'  wifh  ^-^ultan  of  Zanzibar — The  land  route — The  sea  route — Slave- 
trade  declared  illegal — Egypt — The  Soudan — Colonel  Gordon — Conven- 
tions with  Turkey — King  Mtesa  of  Uganda — Nyassa  district — Introduction 
oi  Jxtwful  commerce — Various  commercial  enterj)rises  in  progress — 
Influence  of  Livingstone  on  exploration — Enterprise  of  newspapers — 
Exploring  undertakings  of  various  nations — Livingstone's  personal  service 
to  science — His  hard  work  in  science  the  cause  of  respect — His  influeuce 


CONTENTS. 


XIX 


on  missionary  enterprise — Livingstonia — Dr.  Stewart — Mr.  E,  D.  Young 
— Blantyre — The  Universities  Mission  under  Bishop  Steere — Its  return  to 
the  mainland  and  to  Nyassa district — Church  Missionary  Society  at  Nyanza 
—  London  Missioiiary_So£iety  at^Tanganyika — French,  Iiiland,  Bajitist, 
and  Ameiican  missions — Medical  missions — The  Ffslc  Livingstone  hall 
— Livingstone's  great  legacy  to  Africa,  a  spotless  Christian  name  and 
character — Honours  of  the  future,    .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .461 


APPENDIX. 


I.  Extracts  from  paper  on  "  Missionary  Sacrifices," 
II.  Treatment  of  African  Fever, 

III.  Letter  to  Dr.  Tidman,  as  to  future  operations, 

IV.  Lord  Clarendon's  Letter  to  Sekeletu,    . 

V.  Pnljlic  Honours  awarded  to  Dr.  Livingstone, 


.  475 
.  481 
.  483 

.  487 
.  489 


Index, 


491 


n 


DAVID    LIVINGSTONE. 


CHAPTEE  I. 

EARLY  YEARS. 
A.D.  1813-1836. 

va  —  The  Livingstones  —  Traditions  of  Lira  life  —  The  "  Baughting-time  " 
— "  Kii-sty's  Rock  " — Removal  of  Livingstone's  grandfather  to  Blantyre^ 
Highland  Islood — Xeil  Livingstone — His  marriage  to  Agnes  Hunter — Her 
grandfather  and  father  —  ilonument  to  Neil  and  Agnes  Livingstone  in 
Hamilton  Cemetery — David  Livingstone,  born  19th  March  1S13 — Boyhood — 
At  home — In  school — David  goes  into  Blantj're  Mill — First  earnings — Night - 
school— His  habits  of  reading — Natural-history  expeditions — Great  spiritual 
change  in  his  twentieth  year — Dick's  Philosophi/  of  a  Future  State — He  resolves 
to  be  a  missionary — Influence  of  occupation  at  Blantyre — Sympathy  with 
the  people — Thomas  Burke  and  David  Hogg — Practical  character  of  his 
religion.  ' 

'he  family  of  David  Li\dngstone  sprang,  as  he  has  him- 
elf   recorded,    from   the   island    of   Ulva,    on   the   west 
oast   of    Mull,   in  Argyllshire.      Ulva,    "the   island   of 
olves,"  is  of  the  same  group   as    Staffa,   and,  like  it, 
3markahle  for  its  basaltic  columns,  which,  accordino-  to 
lacCulloch,  are  more  deserving  of  admiration  than  those 
P  the  Giant's  Causeway,  and  have  missed  b^ng  famous 
ily  from  being  eclipsed  by  the  greater  glory  of  Staffa. 
he  island  belonged  for  many  generations  to  the  Mac- 
laries,  a  name  distinguished  in  our  home  annals,  as  well 
;  in  those  of  Australia.     The  Celtic  name  of  the  Living- 
ones  was  M'Leay,  which  according  to  Dr.  Livingstone's 

A 


2  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  i. 

own  idea  means  "  son  of  the  grey-headed,"  but  accord- 
to  another  derivation,  "son  of  the  physician."  It  has 
been  surmised  that  the  name  may  have  been  given  to 
some  son  of  the  famous  Beatoun,  who  held  the  post  of 
physician  to  the  Lord  of  the  Isles.  Probably  Dr.  Living- 
stone never  heard  of  this  derivation  ;  if  he  had,  he  would 
have  shown  it  some  favour,  for  he  had  a  singularly  high 
opinion  of  the  physician's  office. 

The  Saxon  name  of  the  family  was  originally  spelt 
Livmgstone,  but  the  Doctor's  father  had  shortened  it  by 
the  omission  of  the  final  "  e."  David  wrote  it  for  many 
years  in  the  abbreviated  form,  but  about  1857,  at  his 
father's  request,  he  restored  the  original  spelling.-^     The 

siofnificance  of  the  orig-inal  form  of  the  name  was  not  with- 
es o 

out  its  influence  on  him.  He  used  to  refer  with  great 
pleasure  to  a  note  from  an  old  friend  and  fellow-student, 
the  late  Professor  George  Wilson  of  Edinburgh,  acknow- 
ledging a  copy  of  his  book  in  1857  : — "Meanwhile,  may 
your  name  be  propitious ;  in  all  your  long  and  weary 
journeys  may  the  Living  half  of  your  title  outweigh 
the  other ;  till  after  long  and  blessed  labours,  the  white 
stone  is  given  you  in  the  happy  land." 

Livingstone  has  told  us  most  that  is  known  of  his 
forefathers ;  how  his  great-grandfather  fell  at  Culloden, 
fighting  for  the  old  line  of  kings  ;  how  his  grandfather 
could  go  back  for  six  generations  of  his  family  before 
him,  giving  the  particulars  of  each ;  and  how  the  only 
tradition  he  himself  felt  proud  of  was  that  of  the  old 
man  who  had  never  heard  of  any  person  in  the  famUy 
being  guilty  of  dishonesty,  and  who  charged  his  chil- 
dren never-  to  introduce  the  vice.  He  used  also  to 
tell  his  children,  when  spurring  them  to  diligence  at 
school,  that  neither  had  he  ever  heard  of  a  Livingstone 
who  was  a  donkey.  He  has  also  recorded  a  tradition 
that  the  people  of  the  island  were  converted  from  being 

^  See  Journal  of  Geographical  Society,  1857,  page  clxviii. 


1813-36.]  EARLY  YEARS.  3 

Roman  Catholics  "  by  the  laird.  comiDg  round  with  a  man 
having  a  yellow  staff,  which  would  seem  to  have  attracted 
more  attention  than  his  teaching,  for  the  new  religion 
went  long  afterwards — perhaps  it  does  so  still — by  the 
name  of  the  religion  of  the  yellow  stick."  The  same 
story  is  told  of  perhaps  a  dozen  other  places  in  the  High- 
lands ;  the  "yellow  stick"  seems  to  have  done  duty 
on  a  considerable  scale. 

There  were  traditions  of  Ulva  life  that  must  have  been 
very  congenial  to  the  temperament  of  David  Livingstone. 
In  the  "  Statistical  Account"  of  the  parish  to  which  it 
belonofs  ^  we  read  of  an  old  custom  amono^  the  inhabitants, 
to  remove  with  their  flocks  in  the  beginning  of  each  summer 
to  the  upland  pastures,  and  bivouac  there  till  they  were 
obliged  to  descend  in  the  month  of  August.  The  open- 
air  life,  the  free  intercourse  of  famihes,  the  roaming  frolics 
of  the  young  men,  the  songs  and  merriment  of  young 
and  old,  seem  to  have  made  this  a  singularly  happy 
time.  The  writer  of  the  account  (Mr.  Clark  of  Ulva) 
says  that  he  had.  frequently  listened  with  delight  to 
the  tales  of  pastoral  life  led  by  the  people  on  these 
occasions  ;  it  was  indeed  a  relic  of  Arcadia.  There  were 
tragic  traditions,  too,  of  Ulva ;  notably  that  of  Kirsty's 
Rock,  an  awful  place  where  the  islanders  are  said  to  have 
administered  Lynch  law  to  a  woman  w^ho  had  unwittingly 
killed  a  girl  she  meant  only  to  frighten,  for  the  alleged 
crime — denied  by  the  girl — of  stealing  a  cheese.  The 
poor  woman  was  broken-hearted  when  she  saw  what  she 
had  done ;  but  the  neighbours,  filled  with  horror,  and 
deaf  to  her  remonstrances,  placed  her  in  a  sack,  which 
they  laid  upon  a  rock  covered  by  the  sea  at  high  water, 
where  the  rising  tide  slowly  terminated  her  existence. 
Livingstone  quotes  Macaulay's  remark  on  the  extreme 
savagery  of  the  Highlanders  of  those  days,  like  the  Cape 

^  Kilninian  and  Kilratore.     See  Ntw  Statistical  Account  of  Scotland,    Argyll- 
shire, p.  345. 


4  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  i. 

Caffres,  as  he  says  ;  and  the  tradition  of  Kirsty's  Hock 
would  seem  to  confirm  it.  But  the  stories  of  the 
"  baugh ting- time  "  presented  a  fairer  aspect  of  Ulva  life, 
and  no  doubt  left  happier  impressions  on  his  mind. 
His  grandfather,  as  he  tells  us,  had  an  almost  unlimited 
stock  of  such  stories,  which  he  was  wont  to  rehearse  to 
his  grandchildren  and  other  rapt  listeners. 

When,  for  the  first  and  last  time  in  his  life,  David 
Livingstone  visited  Ulva,  in  1864,  in  a  friend's  yacht,  he 
could  hear  little  or  nothino^  of  his  relatives.  In  1792, 
his  grandfather,  as  he  tells  us,  left  it  for  Blantyre,  in 
Lanarkshire,  about  seven  miles  from  Glasgow,  on  the 
banks  of  the  Clyde,  where  he  found  employment  in  a 
cotton  factory.  The  dying  charge  of  the  unnamed  ancestor 
must  have  sunk  into  the  heart  of  this  descendant,  for, 
being  a  God-fearing  man  and  of  sterling  honesty,  he  was 
employed  in  the  conveyance  of  large  sums  of  money  from 
Glasgow  to  the  works,  and  in  his  old  age  was  pensioned 
ofii",  so  as  to  spend  his  declining  years  in  ease  and  comfort. 
There  is  a  tradition  in  the  family,  showing  his  sense  of 
the  value  of  education,  that  he  was  complimented  by  the 
Blantyre  schoolmaster  for  never  grudging  the  price  of  a 
school-book  for  any  of  his  children — a  compliment,  we 
fear,  not  often  won  at  the  present  day.  The  other  near 
relations  of  Livingfstone  seem  to  have  left  the  island  at 
the  same  time,  and  settled  in  Canada,  Prince  Edward's 
Isle,  and  the  United  States. 

The  influence  of  his  Highland  blood  was  apparent  in 
many  ways  in  David  Livingstone's  character.  It  modified 
the  democratic  influences  of  his  early  years,  when  he 
Hved  among  the  cotton-spinners  of  Lanarkshire,  It 
enabled  him  to  enter  more  readily  into  the  relation  of 
the  African  tribes  to  their  chiefs,  which,  unlike  some 
other  missionaries,  he  sought  to  conserve  while  purifying 
it  by  Christian  influence.  It  sho\^'ed  itself  in  the  dash 
and  daring  which  were  so  remarkably  combined  in   him 


iS  13-36.]  EARLY  YEARS.  5 

with  Saxon  forethought  and  perseverance.  We  are  not 
sure  but  it  gave  a  tinge  to  his  affections,  intensifying  his 
Hkes,  and  some  of  his  dishkes  too.  His  attachment  to 
Sir  Boderick  Murchison  was  quite  that  of  a  Highlander, 
and  hardly  less  so  was  his  feeling  towards  the  Duke  of 
Argyll — a  man  whom  he  had  no  doubt  many  grounds  for 
esteeming  highly,  but  of  whom,  after  visiting  him  at 
Inveraray,  he  spoke  with  all  the  enthusiasm  of  a  High- 
lander for  his  chief 

The  Ulva  emigrant  had  several  sons,  all  of  whom  but 
one  eventually  entered  the  King's  service  during,  the 
French  war,  either  as  soldiers  or  sailors.  The  old  man 
was  somewhat  disheartened  by  this  circumstance,  and 
especially  by  the  fate  of  Charles,  head-clerk  in  the  office 
of  Mr.  Henry  Monteith  in  Glasgow,  who  was  pressed  on 
board  a  man-of-war,  and  died  soon  after  in  the  Mediter- 
ranean. Only  one  son  remained  at  home,  Neil,  the  father 
of  David,  who  eventually  became  a  tea-dealer,  and  spent 
his  life  at  Blantyre  and  Hamilton.  David  Livingstone  has 
told  us  tliat  his  father  was  of  the  high  type  of  character 
portrayed  in  the  Cottar  s  Saturdaij  Night.  There  are 
friends  still  alive  who  remember  him  well,  and  on  whom 
he  made  a  deep  impression.  He  was  a  great  reader  from 
his  youth  upwards,  especially  of  rehgious  works.  His 
reading  and  his  religion  refined  his  character,  and  made 
him  a  most  pleasant  and  instructive  companion.  His 
conversational  powers  were  remarkable,  and  he  could 
pour  out  in  a  most  interesting  way  the  stores  of  his  read- 
ing and  observation. 

Neil  Livingstone  was  a  man  of  great  spiritual  earnest- 
ness, and  his  w^hole  life  was  consecrated  to  duty  and  the 
fear  of  God.  In  many  ways  he  was  remarkable,  being  in 
some  things  before  his  time.  In  his  boyhood  he  had  seen 
the  evil  effects  of  convivial  habits  in  his  immediate  circle, 
and  in  order  to  fortify  others  by  his  example  he  became  a 
strict  teetotaler,  suffering  not  a  little  ridicule  and  opposi- 


6  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  i. 

tion  from  the  firmness  witli  which  he  carried  out  his 
resohition.  He  was  a  Sunday-school  teacher,  an  ardent 
member  of  a  missionary  society,  and  a  promoter  of  meet- 
ings for  prayer  and  fellowship,  before  such  things  had 
ceased  to  be  reo-arded  as  bado-es  of  fanaticism.  While 
travelling  through  the  neighbouring  parishes  in  his  vocation 
of  tea-merchant,  he  acted  also  as  colporteur,  distributing 
tracts  and  encouraging  the  reading  of  useful  books.  He 
took  suitable  opportunities  when  they  came  to  him  of 
speaking  to  young  men  and  others  on  the  most  important 
of  all  subjects,  and  not  without  effect.  He  learned  Gaelic 
that  he  might  be  able  to  read  the  Bible  to  his  mother, 
who  knew  that  language  best.  He  had  indeed  the  very 
soul  of  a  missionary.  Withal  he  was  kindly  and  affable, 
though  very  particular  in  enforcing  what  he  believed  to 
be  right.  He  was  quick  of  temper,  but  of  tender  heart 
and  gentle  ways ;  'anything  that  had  the  look  of  stern- 
ness was  the  result  not  of  harshness  but  of  high  principle. 
By  this  means  he  commanded  the  affection  as  well  as  the 
respect  of  his  family.  It  was  a  great  blow  to  his  dis- 
tinguished son,  to  whom  in  his  character  and  ways  he  bore 
a  great  resemblance,  to  get  news  of  his  death,  on  his 
way  home  after  his  first  great  journey,  dissipating  the 
cherished  pleasure  of  sitting  at  the  fireside  and  telling 
him  all  his  adventures  in  Africa. 

The  wife  of  Neil  Livingstone  was  Agnes  Hunter,  a 
member  of  a  family  of  the  same  humble  rank  and  the 
same  estimable  character  as  his  own.  Her  grandfather, 
Gavin  Hunter,  of  the  parish  of  Shotts,  was  a  doughty 
Covenanter,  who  might  have  sat  for  the  portrait  of  David 
Deans.  His  son  David  (after  wdiom  the  traveller  was 
named)  was  a  man  of  the  same  type,  who  got  his  first 
religious  impressions  in  his  eighteenth  year,  at  an  open- 
air  service  conducted  by  one  of  the  Secession  Erskines*. 
Snow  was  falhng  at  the  time,  and  before  the  end  of  the 
sermon  the   people  were   standing   in  snow  ujo  to   the 


1813-36.]  EARLY  YEARS.  7 

ankles  ;  but  David  Hunter  used  to  say  he  had  no  feehng 
of  cold  that  day.  He  married  Janet  Moffat,  and  lived  at 
first  in  comfortable  circumstances  at  Airdrie,  where  he 
owned  a  cottage  and  a  croft.  Mrs.  Hunter  died,  when 
her  daughter  Agnes,  afterwards  Mrs.  Neil  Livingstone, 
was  but  fifteen.  Agnes  was  her  mother's  only  nurse 
during  a  long  illness,  and  attended  so  carefully  to  her 
wants  that  the  minister  of  the  family  laid  his  hand  on 
her  head  and  said,  "A  blessing  will  follow  you,  my 
lassie,  for  your  duty  to  your  mother."  Soon  after  Mrs. 
Hunter's  death  a  reverse  of  fortune  overtgok  her  husband, 
wdio  had  been  too  good-natured  in  accommodating  his 
neighbours.  He  removed  to  Blantyre,  where  he  worked 
as  a  tailor.  Neil  Livingstone  was  apprenticed  to  him  by 
his  father,  much  against  his  will ;  but  it  was  by  this 
means  that  he  became  acquainted  with  Agnes  Hunter, 
his  future  wife.  David  Hunter,  whose  devout  and  m- 
telligent  character  procured  for  him  great  respect,  died 
at  Blantyre  in  1834,  at  the  age  of  eighty-seven.  He 
was  a  great  favourite  with  his  grandchildren,  to  whom  he 
was  always  kind,  and  whom  he  allowed  to  rummage 
freely  among  his  books,  of  which  he  had  a  considerable 
collection,  chiefly  theological. 

Neil  Livingstone  and  Agnes  Hunter  were  married 
in  1810,  and  took  up  house  at  first  in  Glasgow.  The 
furnishing  of  their  house  indicated  the  frugal  character 
and  self-respect  of  the  occupants  ;  it  included  a  handsome 
chest  of  drawers,  and  other  traditional  marks  of  respect- 
ability. Not  liking  Glasgow,  they  returned  to  Blantyre. 
In  a  humble  home  there,  five  sons  and  two  daughters 
were  born.  Two  of  the  sons  died  in  infancy,  to  the  great 
sorrow  of  the  parents.  Mrs.  Livingstone's  family  spoke 
and  speak  of  her  as  a  very  loving  mother,  one  who  con- 
tributed to  their  home  a  remarkable  element  of  bright- 
ness and  serenity.  Active,  orderly,  and  of  thorough 
cleanliness,  she  trained  her  family  in  the  same  virtues. 


8  DA  VID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  i. 

exemplifying  their  value  in  their  own  home.  She  was  a 
delicate  little  woman,  with  a  wonderful  flow  of  good 
spirits,  and  remarkable  for  the  beauty  of  her  eyes,  to 
which  those  of  her  son  David  bore  a  strongf  resemblance. 
She  was  most  careful  of  household  duties  and  attentive 
to  her  children.  Her  love  had  no  crust  to  penetrate, 
but  came  beaming  out  freely  like  the  light  of  the  sun. 
Her  son  loved  her,  and  in  many  ways  followed  her. 
It  was  the  genial,  gentle  influences  that  had  moved  him 
under  his  mother's  training  that  enabled  him  to  move 
the  savages  of  Africa. 

She  too  had  a  great  store  of  family  traditions,  and,  like 
the  mother  of  Sir  Walter  Scott,  she  retained  the  power 
of  telling  them  with  the  utmost  accuracy  to  a  very  old 
age.  In  one  of  Livingstone's  private  journals,  written 
in  18G4,  during  his  second  visit  home,  he  gives  at  full 
length  one  of  his  mother's  stories,  which  some  future 
Macaulay  may  find  useful  as  an  illustration  of  the  social 
condition  of  Scotland  in  the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth 
century : — 

"Mother  told  me  stories  of  lier  youth :  they  seem  to  come  back  to  her 
in  her  eighty-second  year  very  vividly.  Her  grandfather,  Gavin  Hunter, 
could  write,  while  most  common  people  were  ignorant  of  the  art.  A 
poor  woman  got  him  to  Avrite  a  petition  to  the  minister  of  Shotts 
parish  to  augment  her  monthly  allowance  of  sixpence,  as  she  could  not 
live  on  it.  He  was  taken  to  Hamilton  jail  for  tliis,  and  having  a  wife 
and  three  children  at  home,  who  Avithout  him  would  certainly  starve, 
he  thought  of  David's  feigning  madness  before  the  Philistines,  and  be- 
slabbered  his  beard  with  saliva.  All  who  were  found  guilty  were 
sent  to  the  army  in  America,  or  the  plantations.  A  serjeant  had 
compassion  on  him  and  said,  '  Tell  me,  gudeman,  if  you  are  really  out 
of  your  mind.  I  '11  befiiend  you.'  He  confessed  that  he  only  feigned 
insanity,  because  he  had  a  wife  and  three  bairns  at  home  who  Avould 
starve  if  he  were  sent  to  the  army.  '  Dinna  say  onything  mair  to 
ony  body,'  said  the  kind-hearted  serjeant.  He  then  said  to  the  com- 
manding officer,  '  They  have  given  us  a  man  clean  out  of  his  mind  :  I 
can  do  nothing  with  the  like  o'  him.'  The  officer  went  to  him  and 
gave  him  three  shillings,  saying,  '  Tak'  that,  gudeman,  and  gang  awa' 
ham.e  to  your  wife  and  weans.'  '  Ay,'  said  mother,  '  mony  a  prayer 
went  uj)  for  that  serjeant,  for  my  grandfather  was  an  unco  godly  man. 


1813-36.]  EARLY  YEARS.  9 

He  had  never  had  so  much  money  in  his  life  before,  for  his  wages 
were  only  threepence  a  da)'.'  " 

Mrs.  Livingstone,  to  whom  David  had  always  been  a 
most  dutiful  son,  died  on  the  18th  June  1865,  after  a 
lingering  illness  which  had  confined  her  to  bed  for  several 
years.  A  telegram  received  by  him  at  Oxford  announced 
her  death  ;  that  telegram  had  been  stowed  away  in  one 
of  his  travelling  cases,  for  a  year  after  (19th  June  1866), 
in  his  Last  Journals,  he  wrote  this  entry  : — "  I  lighted  on 
a  telegram  to-day  : — 

'  Your  mother  died  at  noon  on  the  ISth  June.' 

This  was  in  1865  ;  it  affected  me  not  a  little."  ^ 

The  home  in  which  David  Livingstone  grew  up  was 
bright  and  happy,  and  presented  a  remarkable  example 
of  all  the  domestic  virtues.  It  was  ruled  by  an  industry 
that  never  lost  an  hour  of  the  six  days,  and  that  welcomed 
and  honoured  the  day  of  rest ;  a  thrift  that  made  the 
most  of  everything,  though  it  never  got  far  beyond  the 
bare  necessaries  of  life  ;  a  self-restraint  that  admitted  no 
stimulant  within  the  door,  and  that  faced  bravely  and 
steadily  all  the  burdens  of  life ;  a  love  of  books  that 
showed  the  presence  of  a  cultivated  taste,  with  a  fear  of 
God  that  diofnified  the  life  which  it  moulded  and  con- 
trolled.  To  the  last  David  Livingstone  was  proud  of  the 
class  from  which  he  sprang.  When  the  highest  in  the 
land  were  showering  compliments  on  him,  he  was  writing 
to  his  old  friends  of  "  my  own  order,  the  honest  poor," 
and  trying,  by  schemes  of  colonisation  and  otherwise,  to 
promote  their  benefit.  He  never  had  the  least  hankering 
for  any  title  or  distinction  that  would  have  seemed  to  lift 
him  out  of  his  own  class ;  and  it  was  with  perfect  smcerity 
that  on  the  tombstone  which  he  placed  over  the  resting- 
place   of  his  parents  in   the    cemetery  of  Hamilton,  he 

^  Last  Journals,  vol.  i.  p.  55. 


lo  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  i. 

expressed  his  feelings  in  tliese  words,  deliberately  refusing 
to  cliange  the  "  and  "  of  the  last  hne  into  "  but"  : — 

TO  SHOW  THE  TvESTING-PLACE  OF 

NEIL  LIVINGSTONE, 

AND  AGNES  HUNTER,  HIS  WIFE, 

AND  TO  EXPRESS  THE  THANKFULNESS  TO  GOD 

OF  THEIR  CHILDREN, 

JOHN,  DAVID,  JANET,  CHARLES,  AND  AGNES, 

FOR  POOR  AND  PIOUS  PARENTS. 

David  Livingstone's  birthday  was  the  19th  March 
1813.  Of  his  early  boyhood  there  is  little  to  say,  except 
that  he  was  a  favourite  at  home.  The  children's  games 
were  merrier  when  he  was  among  them,  and  the  fireside 
brighter.  He  contributed  constantly  to  the  happiness  of 
the  family.  Anything  of  interest  that  happened  to  him 
he  was  always  ready  to  tell  them.  The  habit  was  kept 
up  in  after  years.  When  he  went  to  study  in  Glasgow, 
returning  on  the  Saturday  evenings,  he  would  take  his 
place  by  the  fireside  and  tell  them  all  that  had  occurred 
durino^  the  week,  thus  sharino;  his  life  with  them.  His 
sisters  still  remember  how  they  longed  for  these  Saturday 
evenings.  At  the  village  school  he  received  his  early 
education.  He  seems  from  his  earliest  childhood  to  have 
been  of  a  calm,  self-reliant  nature.  It  was  his  father's 
habit  to  lock  the  door  at  dusk,  by  which  time  all  the 
children  were  expected  to  be  in  the  house.  One  evening 
David  had  infrino-ed  this  rule,  and  when  he  reached  the 
door  it  was  barred.  He  made  no  cry  nor  disturbance, 
but  having  procured  a  piece  of  bread,  sat  down  contentedly 
to  pass  the  night  on  the  doorstep.  There,  on  looking  out, 
his  mother  found  him.  It  was  an  early  application  of  the 
rule  whigh  did  him  such  service  in  later  days,  to  make' 
the  best  of  the  least  pleasant  situations.  But  no  one  could 
yet   have   thought   how  the  rule  was  to  be  afterwards 


1813-36.]  EARLY  YEARS.  n 

applied.     Looking  back  to  this  period,  Livingstone  might 
have  said  in  the  words  of  the  old  Scotch  ballad  : — 

"  0  little  knew  my  mother, 
The  day  she  cradled  me, 
The  lands  that  I  should  wander  o'er, 
The  death  that  I  should  dee." 

At  the  asfe  of  nine  he  got  a  New  Testament  from 
his  Sunday-school  teacher  for  repeating  the  119th  Psahii 
on  two  successive  evenings  with  only  five  errors,  a  proof 
that  perseverance  was  bred  in  his  very  bone. 

His  parents  were  poor,  and  at  the  age  of  ten  he  was 
put  to  work  in  the  factory  as  a  piecer,  that  his  earnmgs 
miofht  aid  his  mother  in  the  struo-o-le  with  the  wolf  which 
had  followed  the  family  from  the  island  that  bore  its 
name.  After  serving  a  number  of  years  as  a  piecer,  ho 
was  promoted  to  be  a  spinner.  Greatly  to  his  mother's 
delight,  the  first  half-crown  he  ever  earned  was  laid  by 
hmi  in  her  lap.  Livingstone  has  told  us  that  with  a  part 
of  his  first  week's  wages  he  purchased  E-uddiman's  Rudi- 
ments of  Latin,  and  pursued  the  study  of  that  language 
with  unabated  ardour  for  many  years  afterwards  at  an 
evening  class  which  had  been  opened  between  the 
hours  of  eight  and  ten.  "  The  dictionary  part  of  my 
labours  was  followed  up  till  twelve  o'clock,  or  later,  if  my 
mother  did  not  interfere  by  jumping  up  and  snatching 
the  books  out  of  my  hands.  I  had  to  be  back  in  the 
factory  by  six  in  the  morning,  and  continue  my  work, 
with  intervals  for  breakfast  and  dinner,  till  eight  o'clock 
at  night.  I  read  in  this  way  many  of  the  classical 
authors,  and  knew  Virgil  and  Horace  better  at  sixteen 
than  I  do  now."  ^ 

In  his  readinoj,  he  tells  us  that  he  devoured  all  the 
books  that  came  into  his  hands  but  novels,  and  that  his 
'plan  was  to  place  the  book  on  a  portion  of  the  spinning- 
jenny,  so  that  he  could  catch  sentence  after  sentence  as 

^  Missionary  Travels,  p.  3. 


12  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  i. 

lie  passed  at  Lis  work.  The  labour  of  attending  to  the 
wheels  was  great,  for  the  improvements  in  spinning 
machinery  that  have  made  it  self-acting  had  not  then 
been  introduced.  The  utmost  interval  that  Livingstone 
could  have  for  reading  at  one  time  was  less  than  a  minute. 

The  thirst  for  reading  so  early  shown  was  greatly 
stimulated  by  his  father's  example.  Neil  Livingstone, 
while  fond  of  the  old  Scottish  theology,  was  deeply 
interested  in  the  enterprise  of  the  nineteenth  century,  or, 
as  he  called  it,  "the  progress  of  the  world,''  and  endea- 
voured to  interest  his  family  in  it  too.  Any  books  of 
travel,  and  especially  of  missionary  enterprise,  that  he 
could  lay  his  hands  on,  he  eagerly  read.  Some  publications 
of  the  Tract  Society,  called  the  Weekly  Visitor,  the  CliiltVs 
Comjxtnion  and  Teachers  Offering,  were  taken  in,  and 
were  much  enjoyed  by  his  son  David,  especially  the 
papers  of  "  Old  HumjDhrey."  Novels  were  not  admitted 
into  the  house,  in  accordance  with  the  feeling  prevalent 
in  religious  circles.  Neil  Livingstone  had  also  a  fear  of 
books  of  science,  deeming  them  unfriendly  to  Chris- 
tianity ;  his  son  instinctively  repudiated  that  feeling, 
though  it  w^as  some  time  before  the  works  of  Thomas 
Dick  of  Broughty-Ferry  enabled  him  to  see  clearly,  what 
to  him  was  of  vital  significance,  that  religion  and  science 
were  not  necessarily  hostile,  but  rather  friendly  to  each 
other. 

The  many-sidedness  of  his  character  showed  itself 
early  ;  for  not  content  with  reading,  he  used  to  scour 
the  countiy,  accompanied  by  his  brothers,  in  search  of 
botanical,  geological,  and  zoological  specimens.  Culpepper's 
Herbal  was  a  favourite  book,  and  it  set  him  to  look  in 
every  direction  for  as  many  of  the  plants  described  in  it 
as  the  country-side  could  supply.  A  story  has  been 
circidated  that  on  these  occasions  he  did  not  always 
confine  his  researches  in  zoology  to  fossil  animals.  That 
Livmgstone  was  a  poacher  in  the  grosser  sense  of  the 


1813-36.]  EARLY  YEARS.  13 

term  seems  Hcirdly  credible,  though  Trith  the  Radical 
opinions  which  he  held  at  the  time  it  may  readily  be 
beheved  that  he  had  no  respect  for  the  sanctity  of  game. 
If  a  salmon  came  in  his  way  while  he  was  fishing  for 
trout,  he  made  no  scruple  of  bagging  it.  The  bag  on 
such  occasions  was  not  always  made  for  the  pui-pose, 
for  there  is  a  story  that  once  when  he  had  captured 
a  fish  in  the  "  salmon  pool,"  and  was  not  prej^ared  to 
transport  such  a  prize,  he  deposited  it  in  the  leg  of  his 
brother  Charles's  trousers,  creating  no  little  sympathy 
for  the  boy,  as  he  passed  through  the  village  with  his 
sadly  swollen  leg  ! 

It  was  about  his  twentieth  year  that  the  great 
spiritual  change  took  place  which  determined  the  course 
of  Livinofstone's  future  life.  But  before  this  time  he  had 
earnest  thoughts  on  religion.  "  Great  pains,"  he  says  in 
his  first  book,  "  had  been  taken  by  my  parents  to  instil 
the  doctrines  of  Christianity  into  my  mind,  and  I  had  no 
diificulty  in  understanding  the  theory  of  a  free  salvation 
by  the  atonement  of  our  Saviour ;  but  it  was  only  about 
this  time  that  I  began  to  feel  the  necessity  and  value  of 
a  personal  application  of  the  provisions  of  that  atonement 
to  my  own  case."^  Some  light  is  thrown  on  this  brief 
account  in  a  paper  submitted  by  him  to  the  Directors  of 
the  London  Missionary  Society  in  1838,  in  answer  to  a 
schedule  of  queries  sent  down  by  them  when  he  offered 
himself  as  a  missionary  for  their  service.  He  says  that 
about  his  twelfth  year  he  began  to  reflect  on  his  state  as 
a  sinner,  and  became  anxious  to  reahse  the  state  of  mind 
that  flow^s  from  the  reception  of  the  truth  into  the  heart. 
He  was  deterred,  however,  from  embracing  the  free  offer 
of  mercy  in  the  gospel,  by  a  sense  of  unworthiness  to 
receive  so  great  a  blessing,  till  a  supernatural  change 
should  be  effected  in  him  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  Conceiving 
it  to  be  his  duty  to  wait  for  this,  he  continued  expecting 

^  MUnionary  Travels,  p.  4. 


14  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  i. 

a  ground  of  hope  within,  rejecting  meanwhile  the  only 
true  hope  of  the  sinner,  the  finished  work  of  Christ,  till 
at  lenorth  his  convictions  were  effaced,  and  his  feelinofs 
blunted.  Still  his  heart  was  not  at  rest ;  an  unappeased 
liunger  remained,  w^hich  no  other  pursuit  could  satisfy. 

In  these  circumstances  he  fell  in  with  Dick's  Pliilo- 
sophy  of  a  Future  State.  The  book  corrected  his  error, 
and  showed  him  the  truth.  "I  saw  the  duty  and  in- 
estimable privilege  immediatehj  to  accept  salvation  by 
Christ.  Humbly  believing  that  through  sovereign  mercy 
and  OT'ace  I  have  been  enabled  so  to  do,  and  havinof  felt 
in  some  measure  its  effects  on  my  still  depraved  and 
deceitful  heart,  it  is  my  desire  to  show  my  attachment 
to  the  cause  of  Him  who  died  for  me  by  devoting  my 
Hfe  to  His  service." 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  David  Livinofstone's  heart 
was  very  thoroughly  penetrated  by  the  new  life  that  now 
floAved  into  it.  He  did  not  merely  apprehend  the  truth 
— the  truth  laid  hold  of  him.  The  divine  blessing  flowed 
into  him  as  it  flowed  into  the  heart  of  St.  Paul,  St. 
Augustine,  and  others  of  that  type,  subduing  all  earthly 
desires  and  wishes.  What  he  says  in  his  book  about 
the  freeness  of  God's  grace  drawing  forth  feelings  of 
affectionate  love  to  Him  who  bought  him  with  His  blood, 
and  the  sense  of  deep  obligation  to  Him  for  his  mercy, 
that  had  influenced,  in  some  small  measure,  his  conduct 
ever  since,  is  from  him  most  significant.  Accustomed  to 
suppress  all  spiritual  emotion  in  his  public  writings,  he 
would  not  have  used  these  words  if  they  had  not  been 
very  real.  They  give  us  the  secret  of  his  life.  Acts 
of  self-denial  that  are  very  hard  to  do  under  the  iron  law 
of  conscience  become  a  willing  service  under  the  glow  of 
divine  love.  It  was  the  glow  of  divine  love  as  well  as  the 
power  of  conscience  that  moved  Livingstone.  Though  he 
seldom  revealed  his  inner  feelings,  and  hardly  ever  in  the 
language  of  ecstasy,  it  is  plain  that  he  was  moved  by  a 


1813-36.]  EARLY  YEARS.  15 

calm  but  miglity  inward  power  to  tlie  very  end  of  liia 
life.  The  love  that  began  to  stir  his  heart  in  his  father's 
house  continued  to  move  him  all  through  his  dreary 
African  journeys,  and  was  still  in  full  play  on  that  lonely 
midnight  when  he    knelt    at  his  bedside  in  the  hut  in 

o 

Ilala,  and  his  spirit  returned  to  his  God  and  Saviour, 

At  first,  he  had  no  thought  of  being  himself  a  mis- 
sionary. Feeling  "  that  the  salvation  of  men  ought  to 
be  the  chief  desire  and  aim  of  every  Christian,"  he  had 
made  a  resolution  "  that  he  would  give  to  the  cause  of 
missions  all  that  he  might  earn  beyond  what  was  required 
for  his  subsistence."^  The  resolution  to  give  himself  came 
from  his  reading  an  Appeal  by  Mr.  Gutzlaff  to  the 
Churches  of  Britain  and  America  on  behalf  of  China.  It 
was  "  the  claims  of  so  many  millions  of  his  fellow-creatures, 
and  the  complaints  of  the  scarcity,  of  the  want  of  qualified 
missionaries,"  that  led  him  to  aspire  to  the  ofiice.  From 
that  time — apparently  his  twenty-first  year — his  "  efforts 
were  constantly  directed  towards  that  object  without  any 
fluctuation." 

The  years  of  monotonous  toil  spent  in  the  factory 
were  never  regretted  by  Livingstone.  On  the  contrary, 
he  regarded  his  experience  there  as  an  important  part 
of  his  education,  and  had  it  been  possible,  he  would 
have  liked  "  to  begin  life  over  again  in  the  same  lowly 
style,  and  to  pass  through  the  same  hardy  training.*'"^ 
The  fellow-feeling  he  acquh^ed  for  the  children  of  labour 
was  invaluable  for  enabling  him  to  gain  influence  with 
the  same  class,  whether  in  Scotland  or  in  Africa.  As 
we  have  already  seen,  he  was  essentially  a  man  of  the 
people.  Not  that  he  looked  unkindly  on  the  richer 
classes — he  used  to  say  in  his  later  years,  that  he  liked 
to  see  people  in  comfort  and  at  leisure,  enjoying  the  good 
things  of  life, — but  he  felt  that  the  burden-bearing  multi- 

'  Statement  to  Directors  of  Loudon  Missionary  Society. 
^  Missionary  Travels,  p.  6. 


1 6  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  i. 

tilde  claimed  his  sympathy  most.  How  quick  the  people 
are,  whether  in  England  or  in  Africa,  to  find  out  this 
sympathetic  spirit,  and  how  powerful  is  the  hold  of  their 
hearts  which  those  who  have  it  gain  !  In  j)oetic  feeling, 
or  at  least  in  the  power  of  expressing  it,  as  in  many  other 
things,  David  Livingstone  and  Hobert  Burns  were  a 
great  contrast ;  but  in  sympathy  with  the  people  they 
were  alike,  and  in  both  cases  the  people  felt  it.  Away 
and  alone,  in  the  heart  of  Africa,  when  mourning  "the 
pride  and  avarice  that  make  man  a  wolf  to  man,"  Living- 
stone would  welcome  the  "  good  time  coming,"  humming 
the  words  of  Burns — 

"  When  man  to  man,  the  world  o'er, 
Shall  brothers  be  for  a'  that." 

In  all  the  toils  and  trials  of  his  life,  he  found  the  good  of 
that  early  Blantyre  discipHne,  which  had  forced  him  to 
bear  irksome  toil  with  patience,  until  the  toil  ceased  to  be 
u^ksome,  and  even  became  a  pleasure. 

Livingstone  has  told  us  that  the  village  of  Blantyre, 
with  its  population  of  two  thousand  souls,  contained  some 
characters  of  sterling  worth  and  ability,  who  exerted  a 
most  beneficial  influence  on  the  children  and  youth  of  the 
place  by  imparting  gratuitous  religious  instruction.  The 
names  of  two  of  the  worthiest  of  these  are  given,  probably 
because  they  stood  highest  in  his  esteem,  and  he  owed 
most  to  them,  Thomas  Burke  and  David  Hogg.  Essen- 
tially alike,  they  seem  to  have  been  outwardly  very 
different.  Thomas  Burke,  a  somewhat  wild  youth,  had 
enlisted  early  in  the  army.  His  adventures  and  hair- 
breadth escapes  in  the  Forty-second,  during  the  Penin- 
sular and  other  wars,  were  marvellous,  and  used  to  be  told 
in  after  years  to  crowds  of  wondering  listeners.  But  most 
marvellous  was  the  chano-e  of  heart  that  brouo-ht  him 
back  an  intense  Christian  evangelist,  who,  in  season  and 
out  of  season,  never  ceased  to  beseech  the  people  of 
Blantyre  to  yield  themselves  to  God.     Early  on  Simday 


I  Si  3-36.]  EARLY  YEARS.  ii 

morninors  lie  would  o'o  tliroiio-h  the  villao-e  rinoino-  a  bell 
to  rouse  the  people  that  they  might  attend  an  early 
prayer-meeting  which  he  had  established.  His  tempera- 
ment was  far  too  high  for  most  even  of  the  well-disposed 
people  of  Blantyre,  but  Neil  Livingstone  appreciated  his 
genuine  worth,  and  so  did  his  son.  David  says  of  hmi 
that  "  for  about  forty  years  he  had  been  incessant  and 
never  weary  in  good  works,  and  that  such  men  were  an 
honour  to  their  country  and  their  profession."  Yet  it  was 
not  after  the  model  of  Thomas  Burke  that  Livinofstone's 
own  rehgious  life  was  fashioned.  It  had  a  greater  resem- 
blance to  that  of  David  Hogg,  the  other  of  the  two 
Blantyre  patriarchs  of  whom  he  makes  special  mention, 
under  whose  instructions  he  had  sat  in  the  Sunday- 
school,  and  whose  spirit  may  be  gathered  from  his 
death-bed  advice  to  him  :  "  Now,  lad,  make  religion 
the  every-day  business  of  your  life,  and  not  a  thing 
of  fits  and  starts  ;  for  if  you  do,  temptation  and  other 
things  will  get  the  better  of  you."  It  would  hardly 
be  possible  to  give  a  better  account  of  Livingstone's 
religion  than  that  he  did  make  it  quietly,  but  very  really, 
the  every-day  business  of  his  life.  From  the  first  he 
disliked  men  of  much  profession  and  little  performance  ; 
the  aversion  grew  as  he  advanced  in  years  ;  and  by  the 
end  of  his  life,  in  judging  of  men,  he  had  come  to  make 
somewhat  light  both  of  profession  and  of  formal  creed, 
retaining  and  cherishing  more  and  more  firmly  the  one 
great  test  of  the  Saviour — "By  their  fruits  ye  shaU  know 
them." 


B 


rS  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  ii. 


CHAPTER   II. 

MISSIONARY    PREPARATION. 
A.D.  183G-1840. 

His  desire  to  be  a  missionaiy  to  China — Medical  missions — He  studies  at  Glasgow 
— Classmates  and  teachers — He  applies  to  London  Missionary  Society — His 
ideas  of  mission  work — He  is  accepted  provisionally— He  goes  to  London— to 
Ongar — Reminiscences  by  Rev.  Joseph  Moore — by  Mrs.  Gilbert — by  Rev. 
Isaac  Taylor — Nearly  rejected  by  the  Directors — Returns  to  Ongar — to 
London — Letter  to  his  sister — Reminiscences  by  Dr.  Risdon  Bennett — Pro- 
mise to  Professor  Owen — Impression  of  his  character  on  his  friends  and  fellow- 
students — Rev.  R.  Moffat  in  England  — Livingstone  interested — Could  not  be 
sent  to  China — Is  appointed  to  Africa — Providential  links  in  his  history — 
Illness — Last  visits  to  his  home — Receives  Medical  diploma — Parts  from  his 
family. 

It  was  the  appeal  of  Gutzlaff  for  China,  as  we  have 
seen,  that  mspired  Livingstone  with  the  desire  to  be  a 
missionary ;  and  China  was  the  country  to  which  his 
heart  turned.  The  noble  faith  and  dauntless  enterprise 
of  Gutzlaff,  pressing  into  China  over  obstacles  apparently 
insurmountable,  aided  by  his  medical  skill  and  other 
unusual  qualifications,  must  have  served  to  shape  Living- 
stone's ideal  of  a  missionary,  as  well  as  to  attract  him  to 
the  country  where  Gutzlaff  laboured.  It  was  so  ordered, 
however,  that  in  consequence  of  the  opium  war  shutting 
China,  as  it  seemed,  to  the  Enghsh,  his  lot  was  not  cast 
there  ;  but  throughout  his  whole  life  he  had  a  jDeculiarly 
lively  interest  in  the  country  that  had  been  the  object  of 
his  first  love.  Afterwards,  when  his  brother  Charles, 
then  in  America,  wrote  to  him  that  he  too  felt  called  to 
the  missionary  office,  China  was  the  sphere  ^hich  David 
pointed  out  to  him,  in  the  hope  that  the  door  which  had 


1836-40.]  MISSIONARY  PREPARATION.  19 

been  closed  to  the  one  brother  might  be  Opened  to  the 
other. 

When  he  determined  to  be  a  missionary,  the  only 
persons  to  whom  he  communicated  his  purpose  were  his 
minister  and  his  parents,  from  all  of  whom  he  received  great 
encouragement.^  He  hoped  that  he  would  be  able  to  go 
through  the  necessary  preparation  without  help  from  any 
quarter.  This  was  the  more  commendable,  because  in 
addition  to  the  theological  qualifications  of  a  missionary, 
he  determined  to  acquire  those  of  a  medical  practitioner. 
The  idea  of  Medical  Missions  was  at  that  time  com- 
paratively new.  It  had  been  started  in  connection  with 
missions  to  China,  and  it  was  in  the  prospect  of  going 
to  that  country  that  Livingstone  resolved  to  obtain  a 
medical  education.  It  would  have  been  comparatively 
easy  for  him,  in  a  financial  sense,  to  get  the  theological 
training,  but  the  medical  education  was  a  costly  affair. 
To  a  man  of  ordinary  ideas,  it  would  have  seemed  im- 
possible to  make  the  wages  earned  during  the  six  months 
of  summer  avail  not  merely  for  his  support  then,  but  for 
winter  too,  and  for  lodgings,  fees,  and  books  besides. 
Scotch  students  have  often  done  wonders  in  this  way, 
notably  the  late  Dr.  John  Henderson,  a  medical  mis- 
sionary to  China,  who  actually  lived  on  half-a-crown  a 
week,  while  attending  medical  classes  in  Edinburgh. 
Livingstone  followed  the  same  self-denying  course.  If  we 
had  a  note  of  his  housekeeping  in  his  Glasgow  lodging, 
we  should  wonder  less  at  his  ability  to  live  on  the  fare 

'  Livingstone's  minister  at  this  time  was  the  Eev.  John  Moir,  of  the  Congi'ega- 
tional  church,  Hamilton,  who  afterwards  joined  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland,  and 
is  now  Presbyterian  minister  in  Wellington,  New  Zealand.  Mr.  Moir  has  furnished 
us  Muth  some  recollections  of  Livingstone,  which  reached  us  after  the  completion 
of  this  nai'rative.  He  particularly  notes  that  when  Livingstone  expressed  his 
desire  to  be  a  missionary,  it  was  a  missionary  out  and  out,  a  missionaiy  to  the 
heathen,  not  the  minister  of  a  congregation.  Mr.  Moir  kindly  lent  him  some  books 
when  he  went  to  London,  all  of  which  were  conscientiously  returned  before  he  left 
the  country.  A  Greek  Lexicon,  with  only  cloth  boards  when  lent,  was  returned  in 
substantial  calf.  He  was  ever  careful,  conscientious,  and  honourable  in  all  his 
dealings,  as  his  father  had  been  before  him. 


20  BA  VID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  ii. 

to  which  he  was  often  reduced  in  Africa.  But  the  im- 
portance of  the  medical  qualification  had  taken  a  firm 
hold  of  his  mind,  and  he  jDersevered  in  spite  of  difficulties. 
Thouo-h  it  was  never  his  lot  to  exercise  the  healino;  art 
in  China,  his  medical  trainino;  was  of  the  hiofhest  use  in 
Africa,  and  it  developed  wonderfully  his  strong  scientific 
turn. 

It  Avas  in  the  winter  of  1836-37  that  he  spent  his  first 
session  m  Glasgow.  Furnished  by  a  friend  with  a  hst  of 
lodgings,  Livingstone  and  his  father  set  out  from  Blantyre 
one  wintry  day,  while  the  snow  was  on  the  ground,  and 
walked  to  Glasgow.  The  lodgings  were  all  too  expensive. 
All  day  they  searched  for  a  cheaper  apartment,  and  at 
last  in  Kotten  E-ow  they  found  a  room  at  two  shillings 
a  week.  Next  evening  David  wrote  to  his  friends  that 
lie  had  entered  in  the  various  classes,  and  spent  twelve 
pounds  in  fees ;  that  he  felt  very  lonely  after  his  father 
left,  but  would  put  "  a  stout  heart  to  a  stey  brae,"  and 
"  either  mak'  a  spune  or  spoil  a  horn."  At  Rotten  E,ow 
he  soon  found  that  his  landlady  held  rather  communistic 
views  in  regard  to  his  tea  and  sugar ;  so  another  search 
had  to  be  made,  and  this  time  he  found  a  room  in  the 
High  Street,  where  he  was  very  comfortable,  at  half-a- 
crown  a  week. 

At  the  close  of  the  session  in  April  he  returned  to 
Blantyre  and  resumed  work  at  the  mill.  He  Avas  unable 
to  save  quite  enough  for  his  second  session,  and  found  it 
necessary  to  borrow  a.  little  from  his  elder  brother.-^  The 
classes  he  attended  during  these  two  sessions  were  the 
Greek  class  in  Anderson's  College,  the  theological  class  of 
the  Bev.  Dr.  Wardlaw,  who  trained  students  for  the  Inde- 
pendent Churches,  and  the  medical  classes  in  Anderson's. 

^  The  readiness  of  elder  brothers  to  advance  part  of  their  hard-won  earnings, 
or  otherwise  encourage  a  younger  brother  to  attend  College,  is  a  pleasant  feature 
of  family  life  in  the  humbler  classes  of  Scotland.  The  case  of  James  Beattie  the 
poet,  assisted  by  his  brother  David,  and  that  of  Sir  James  Simpson,  who  owed  so 
much  to  his  bi'other  Alexander,  will  be  remembered  in  this  connection. 


1 83 6-40.]  MISSIONAR  y  PREPARA  TION.  2  x 

In  the  Greek  class  he  seems  to  have  been  entered  as 
a  private  student,  excitmg  little  notice/  In  the  same 
capacity  he  attended  the  lectures  of  Dr.  Wardlaw. 
He  had  a  great  admiration  for  that  divine,  and  accepted 
generally  his  theological  views.  But  Livingstone  was  not 
much  of  a  scientific  theologian. 

His  chief  work  in  Glasgow  was  the  prosecution  of 
medical  study.  Of  his  teachers,  two  attracted  him  beyond 
the  rest — the  late  Dr.  Thomas  Graham,  the  very  dis- 
tinguished Professor  of  Chemistry,  and  Dr.  Andrew 
Buchanan,  Professor  of  the  Institutes  of  Medicine,  his 
life-loner  and  much-attached  friend.  While  attending^ 
Dr.  Graham's  class  he  was  brought  into  frequent  contact 
with  the  assistant  to  the  Professor,  Mr.  James  Young. 
Originally  bred  to  a  mechanical  employment,  this  young 
man  had  attended  the  evening  course  of  Dr.  Graham,  and 
having  attracted  his  attention,  and  done  various  pieces 
of  work  for  him,  he  became  his  assistant.  The  students 
used  to  gather  round  him,  and  several  met  in  his  room, 
where  there  was  a  bench,  a  turning-lathe,  and  other 
conveniences  for  mechanical  work.  Livingstone  took  an 
interest  in  the  turning-lathe,  and  increased  his  know- 
ledge of  tools — a  knowledge  which  proved  of  the  highest 
service  to  him  when — as  he  used  to  say  all  missionaries 
should  be  ready  to  do — he 'had  to  become  a  Jack-of- 
all-trades  in  Africa. 

Livingstone  was  not  the  only  man  of  mark  Avho 
frequented  that  room,  and  got  lessons  from  Mr.  Young 
"how  to  use  his  hands."  The  Bight  Hon.  Lyon  Playfair, 
who  has  had  so  distinguished  a  scientific  career,  was 
another  of  its  habitues.     A  galvanic  battery  constructed 

^  A  very  sensational  and  foolish  reminiscence  was  once  published  of  a  raw 
country  youth  coming  into  the  class  with  his  clothes  stained  with  grease  and 
whitened  by  cotton-wool.  This  was  Livingstone.  The  fact  is,  nothing  could 
possibly  have  been  more  unlike  him.  At  this  time  Livingstone  was  not  working 
at  the  mill ;  and,  in  regard  to  dress,  however  plainly  he  might  be  clad,  he  was 
never  careless,  far  less  offensive. 


22  DA  VID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  ii. 

by  two  young  men  on  a  new  principle,  under  Mr.  Young's 
instructions,  became  an  object  of  great  attraction,  and 
amono;  those  who  came  to  see  it  and  its  effects  were 
two  sons  of  the  Professor  of  Mathematics  in  the  Uni- 
versity. Although  but  boys,  both  were  fired  at 'this 
interview  with  enthusiasm  for  electric  science.  Both 
have  been  for  many  years  Professors  in  the  University  of 
Glaso-ow.  The  elder,  Professor  James  Thomson,  is  well 
known  for  liis  useful  inventions  and  ingenious  papers 
on  many  branches  of  science.  The  younger,  Sir  William 
Thomson,  ranks  over  the  world  as  prince  of  electricians, 
and  second  to  no  living  man  in  scientific  reputation. 

Dr.  Graham's  assistant  devoted  himself  to  practical 
chemistry,  and  made  for  himself  a  brilliant  name  by  the 
purification  of  petroleum,  adapting  it  for  use  in  private 
houses,  and  by  the  manufacture  of  paraffin  and  paraffin- 
oil.  Few  men  have  made  the  art  to  which  they  devoted 
themselves  more  subservient  to  the  use  of  man  than  he 
whom  Livingstone  first  knew  as  Graham's  assistant,  and 
afterwards  used  to  call  playfully  "  Sir  Paraffin."  "  I 
have  been  obliged  to  knight  him,"  he  used  to  say,  *'  to 
distinguish  him  from  the  other  Young."  The  "other" 
Young  was  Mr.  E.  D.  Young  of  the  Search  Expedition, 
and  subsequently  the  very  successful  leader  of  the  Scotch 
Mission  at  Lake  Nyassa.  The  assistant  to  Dr.  Graham 
still  survives,  and  is  well  known  as  Mr.  Young  of  Kelly, 
LL.D.  and  F.E.S. 

When  Livingstone  returned   from  his  first  journey, 

his  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Young  was  resumed,  and  their 

friendship  continued  through  life.     It  is  no  slight  testi- 

,  mony  from  one  who  knew  him  so  long  and  so  intimately, 

N^  that,   in  his  judgment,' Livingstone    was   the  best  man 

I*'  he   ever  knew,    had  more  than  any  other  man    of  true 

filial  trust  in  God,  more  of  the  S23irit  of  Christ,  more  of 

integrity,  purity,  and  simplicity  of  character,  and  of  self- 

clenvino"    love   for   his    fellow-men.     Livino-stone   named 


i 


1S36-40.]  MISSIONARY  PREPARAIIOK  23 

after  him  a  river  which  he  supposed  might  be  one  of  the 
sources  of  the  Nile,  and  used  ever  to  speak  with  great 
respect  of  the  chief  achievement  of  Mr.  Young's  hfe — 
fining  houses  with  a  clear  white  light  at  a  fraction  of  the 
cost  of  the  smoky  article  which  it  displaced. 

Beyond  their  own  department,  men  of  science  are 
often  as  lax  and  illogical  as  any  ;  but  when  scientific 
training  is  duly  applied,  it  genders  a  habit  of  thorough 
accuracy,  inasmuch  as  in  scientific  inquiry  the  slightest 
deviation  from  truth  breeds  endless  mischief  Other 
influences  had  already  disposed  Livingstone  to  great 
exactness  of  statement,  but  along  with  these  his  scientific 
training  may  be  held  to  have  contributed  to  that  dread  of 
exaggeration  and  of  all  inaccuracy  which  was  so  markedy 
a  feature  of  his  character  throug-h  life. 

It  happened  that  Livingstone  did  not  part  company 
with  Professor  Graham  and  Mr.  Young  when  he  left 
Glasgow.  The  same  year.  Dr.  Graham  went  to  London 
as  Professor  in  University  College,  and  Livingstone,  who 
also  w^ent  to  London,  had  the  opportunity  of  paying  occa- 
sional visits  to  his  class.  In  this  way,  too,  he  became 
acquainted  with  the  late  Dr.  George  Wilson,  afterwards 
Professor  of  Technology  in  the  University  of  Edinburgh, 
who  was  then  acting  as  unsalaried  assistant  in  Dr. 
Graham's  laboratory.  Frank,  genial,  and  chivalrous, 
Wilson  and  Livingstone  had  much  in  common,  and  more 
in  after  years,  when  Wilson  too  became  an  earnest  Chris- 
tian. In  the  simplicity  and  purity  of  their  character, 
and  in  their  devotion  to  science,  not  only  for  its  own 
sake,  but  as  a  departnient  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  they 
were  brothers  indeed.  Livingstone  showed  his  friendship 
in  after  years  by  collecting  and  transmitting  to  Wilson 
whatever  he  could  find  in  Africa  worthy  of  a  place  in 
the  Edinburgh  Museum  of  Science  and  Art,  of  which 
his  friend  was  the  first  Director. 

In    the    course    of    his    second    session    in    Glasgow 


24  DAVID  LIVII^GSTONE.  [chap.  ir. 

(1837-38)  Livingstone  applied  to  the  London  Missionary 
Society,  offering  his  services  to  them  as  a  missionary. 
He  had  learned  that  that  Society  had  for  its  sole  object 
to  send  the  gospel  to  the  heathen ;  that  it  accepted 
missionaries  from  different  Churches,  and  that  it  did  not 
set  lip  any  particular  form  of  Church,  but  left  it  to  the 
converts  to  choose  the  form  they  considered  most  in 
accordance  with  the  Word  of  God.  This  agreed  with 
Livingstone's  own  notion  of  what  a  Missionary  Society 
should  do.  He  had  already  connected  himself  witV 
the  Independent  communion,  but  his  preference  for  it  was 
founded  chiefly  on  his  greater  regard  for  the  'personnel  of 
the  body,  and  for  the  spirit  in  which  it  was  administered, 
as  compared  with  the  Presbyterian  Churches  of  Scotland. 
He  had  very  strong  views  of  the  spirituality  of  the  Church 
of  Christ,  and  the  need  of  a  profound  spiritual  change  as 
the  only  true  basis  of  Christian  life  and  character.  He 
thought  that  the  Presbyterian  Churches  were  too  lax  in 
their  communion,  and  particularly  the  Established  Church. 
He  was  at  this  time  a  decided  Voluntary,  chiefly  on  the 
ground  maintained  by  such  men  as  Yinet,  that  the  con- 
nection of  Church  and  State  was  hurtful  to  the  spmtuality 
of  the  Church ;  and  he  had  a  particular  abhorrence  of 
what  he  called  "geographical  Christianity," — which  gave 
every  man  within  a  certain  area  a  right  to  the  sacraments. 
We  shall  see  that  in  his  later  years  Dr.  Livingstone  saw 
reason  to  modify  some  of  these  opinions  ;  surveying  the 
Evangelical  Churches  from  the  heart  of  Africa,  he  came  to 
think  that,  established  or  non-established,  they  did  not 
differ  so  very  much  from  each  other,  and  that  there  was 
much  good  and  considerable  evil  in  them  all. 

In  his  application  to  the  London  Missionary  Society, 

Livingstone  stated  his  ideas  of  missionary  work  in  com- 

\  t  prehensive  terms  : — "  The  missionary's  object  is  to  en- 

>||L^deavour  by  every  means  in  his  power  to  make  known  the 

//     £»'ospel  by  preaching,  exhortation,  conversation,  instruction 


I  S3  6-4a]  MISSION AR  Y  PRE  PAR  A  HON.  25 

of  the  young ;  improving,  so  far  as  in  his  power,  the 
temporal  condition  of  those  among  whom  he  hxbours,  by 
introducing  the  arts  and  sciences  of  civilisation,  and  doing 
everything  to  commend  Christianity  to  their  hearts  and 
consciences.  He  will  be  exposed  to  great  trials  of  his 
faith  and  patience  from  the  indifference,  distrust,  and 
even  direct  opposition  and  scorn  of  those  for  whose  good 
he  is  labouring ;  he  may  be  tempted  to  despondency  from 
the  little  apparent  fruit  of  his  exertions,  and  exposed  to 
all  the  contaminating  influence  of  heathenism.''  He  was 
not  about  to  undertake  this  work  without  counting  the 
cost.  "  The  hardships  and  dangers  of  missionary  life,  so 
far  as  I  have  had  the  means  of  ascertaining  their  nature 
and  extent,  have  been  the  subject  of  serious  reflection,  and 
in  dependence  on  the  promised  assistance  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  I  would  will- 
ingly submit  to  them,  considering  my  constitution  capable 
of  enduring  any  ordinary  share  of  hardship  or  fatigue." 
On  one  point  he  was  able  to  give  the  Directors  very 
explicit  information  :  he  was  not  married,  nor  under  any 
engagement  of  marriage,  nor  had  he  ever  made  pro- 
posals of  marriage,  nor  indeed  been  In  love  !  He  would 
prefer  to  go  out  unmarried,  that  he  might,  like  the  great 
apostle,  be  without  family  cares,  and  give  himself  entirely 
to  the  work. 

His  application  to  the  London  Missionary  Society  was 
provisionally  accepted,  and  in  September  1838  he  was 
summoned  to  London  to  meet  the  Directors.  A  young 
Englishman  came  to  London  on  the  same  errand  at  the 
same  time,  and  a  friendship  natui'ally  arose  between  the 
two.  Livingstone's  young  friend  was  the  Rev.  Joseph 
Moore,  afterwards  missionary  at  Tahiti  ;  now  of  Congleton 
in  Cheshire.  Nine  years  later,  Livingstone,  writing  to  Mr. 
Moore  from  Africa,  said  :  "Of  all  those  I  have  met  since 
we  parted,  I  have  seen  no  one  I  can  compare  to  you  for 
sincere,  hearty  friendship."     Livingstone's  family  used  to 


26  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  ii. 

speak  of  them  as  Jonathan  and  David.  Mr.  Moore  has 
kindly  furnished  us  with  his  recollections  of  Livingstone 
at  this  time  : — 

"I  met  with  Livingstone  first  in  September  1838,  at  57  Alders- 
gate  Street,  London.  On  the  same  day  we  had  received  a  letter  from 
tlie  Secretary  informing  us  severally  that  our  applications  had  been 
received,  and  that  we  must  appear  in  London  to  be  examined  by  the 
Mission  Board  there.  On  the  same  day,  he  from  Scotland,  and  I 
from  the  south  of  England,  arrived  in  town.  On  that  night,  we 
simply  accosted  each  other,  as  those  who  meet  at  a  lodging-house 
might  do.  After  breakfast  on  the  following  day,  we  fell  into  con- 
versation, and  finding  that  the  same  object  had  brought  us  to  the 
metropolis,  and  that  the  same  trial  awaited  us,  naturally  enough  we 
Avere  drawn  to  each  other.  Every  day,  as  we  had  not  been  in  town 
before,  we  visited  jilaccs  of  renown  in  the  great  city,  and  had  many  a 
chat  about  our  prospects. 

"  On  Sunday  in  the  morning,  we  heard  Dr.  Leifchild,  who  was 
then  in  his  prime,  and  in  the  evening  Mr.  Sherman,  who  preached 
with  all  his  accustomed  persuasiveness  and  mellifluousness.  In  the 
afternoon  Ave  worshipped  at  St.  Paul's,  and  heard  Prebendary  Dale. 

"On  Monday  Ave  passed  our  first  examination.  On  Tuesday  AA^e 
Avent  to  Westminster  Abbey.  Who  that  had  seen  those  two  young 
men  passing  from  monument  to  monument  could  have  divined  that 
one  of  them  Avould  one  day  be  buried  Avith  a  nation's — rather  Avitli 
the  civilised  Avorld's — lament,  in  that  sacred  shrine  %  The  Avildest 
fancy  could  not  have  pictured  that  such  an  honour  aAvaited  David 
Livingstone.  I  greAv  daily  more  attached  to  him.  If  I  Avere  asked 
Avhy,  I  should  be  rather  at  a  loss  to  reply.  There  Avas  truly  an  in- 
describable charm  about  him,  Avhich,  Avith  all  his  rather  ungainly  ways, 
and  by  no  means  Avinning  face,  attracted  almost  every  one,  and  Avhicli 
helped  him  so  much  in  his  after-Avanderings  in  Africa. 

"  He  Avon  those  Avho  came  near  him  by  a  kind  of  spell.  There 
happened  to  be  in  the  boarding-house  at  that  time  a  young  M.D.,  a 
saddler  from  Hants,  and  a  bookseller  from  Scotland.  To  this  hour 
they  all  speak  of  him  in  rapturous  terms. 

"  After  passing  two  examinations,  Ave  Avere  both  so  far  accepted  by 
the  Society  that  Ave  were  sent  to  the  Rev.  Richard  Cecil,  Avho  resided  at 
Chipping  Ongar  in  Essex.  Most  missionary  students  Avere  sent  to 
him  for  three  months'  probation,  and  if  a  favourable  opinion  Avas  sent 
to  the  Board  of  Directors,  they  Avent  to  one  of  the  Independent  Col- 
leges. The  students  did  not  for  the  most  part  live  Avith  Mr.  Cecil,  but 
took  lodgings  in  the  toAvn,  and  went  to  his  house  for  meals  and 
instruction  in  classics  and  theology.  Livingstone  and  I  lodged 
together.  We  read  Latin  and  Greek,  and  began  HebreAV  together. 
Every  day  Ave  took  Avalks,  and  visited  all  the  spots  of  interest  in  the 


1 836-40.]  MISSIONAR  Y  PRE  PAR  A  TION.  27 

neighbourhood,  among  them  the  country  churchyard  ■which  was  the 
burial-pLace  of  John  Locke.  In  a  pLace  so  cpiiet,  and  a  life  so  ordinary 
as  that  of  a  student,  there  did  not  occur  many  events  worthy  of 
recital,  I  will,  however,  mention  one  or  two  things,  because  they 
give  an  insight — a  kind  of  prophetic  glance — into  Livingstone's  after 
career. 

"  One  foggy  November  morning,  at  three  o'clock,  he  set  out  from 
Ongar  to  walk  to  London  to  see  a  relative  of  his  father's.^  It  was 
about  twenty-seven  miles  to  the  house  he  sought.  After  spending  a 
few  hours  with  his  relation,  he  set  out  to  return  ou  foot  to  Ongar. 
Just  out  of  London,  near  Edmonton,  a  lady  had  been  thrown  out  of  a 
gig.  •  She  lay  stunned  on  the  road.  Livingstone  immediately  Avent  to 
her,  helped  to  carry  her  into  a  house  close  by,  and  having  examined 
her  and  found  no  bones  broken,  and  recommending  a  doctor  to  be 
called,  he  resumed  his  weary  tramp.  Weary  and  footsore,  when 
he  reached  Stanford  Rivers  he  missed  his  way,  and  finding  after  some 
time  that  he  was  Avrong,  he  felt  so  dead-beat  that  he  was  inclined 
to  lie  down  and  sleej) ;  but  finding  a  directing  post  he  climbed  it,  and 
by  the  light  of  the  stars  deciphered  enough  to  know  his  Avhereabouts. 
About  twelve  that  Saturday  night  he  reached  Ongar,  white  as  a  sheet, 
and  so  tired  he  could  hardly  utter  a  word.  I  gave  him  a  basin 
of  bread  and  milk,  and  I. am  not  exaggerating  when  I  say  I  put  him 
to  bed.  He  fell  at  once  asleep,  and  did  not  awake  till  noon-day  had 
i:)assed  on  Sunday. 

"  Total  abstinence  at  that  time  began  to  be  spoken  of,  and  Living- 
stone and  I,  and  a  Mr.  Taylor,  who  Avent  to  India,  took  a  pledge 
together  to  abstain.-  Of  that  trio,  two,  I  am  sorry  to  say  (Jieii  me 
miserum  /),  enfeebled  health,  after  many  years,  compelled  to  take  a 
little  wine  for  our  stomachs'  sake.     Livingstone  was  one  of  the  two. 

"  One  part  of  our  duties  was  to  prepare  sermons,  which  were 
submitted  to  Mr.  Cecil,  and,  when  corrected,  were  committed  to 
memory,  and  then  repeated  to  our  village  congregations.  Livingstone 
prepared  one,  and  one  Sunday  the  minister  of  Stanford  Rivers,  where 
the  celebrated  Isaac  Taylor  resided,  having  fallen  sick  after  the 
morning  service,  Livingstone  was  sent  for  to  preach  in  the  evening. 
He  took  his  text,  read  it  out  very  deliberately,  and  then — then — his 
sermon  had  fled  !  Midnight  darkness  came  upon  him,  and  he  abruptly 
said :  '  Friends,  I  have  forgotten  all  I  had  to  say,'  and  hurrying  out  of 
the  pulpit,  he  left  the  chapel. 

^  We  learn  from  the  family  that  the  precise  object  of  the  A'isit  was  to  transact 
some  business  for  his  eldest  brother,  who  had  begun  to  deal  in  lace.  In  the 
darkness  of  the  morning  Livingstone  fell  into  a  ditch,  smearing  his  clothes,  and 
not  improving  his  appearance  for  smart  business  purposes.  The  day  was  spent  in 
going  about  in  London  from  shop  to  shop,  greatly  increasing  Livingstone's  fatigue. 

-  Livingstone  had  always  practised  total  abstinence,  according  to  the  invariable 
custom  of  his  fatlier's  house.  The  third  of  the  trio  was  the  Ilev.  Joseph  v.  S. 
Taylor,  now  of  the  Irish  Presbyterian  Mission,  Gujerat,  Bombay. 


28  DA  VID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  ii. 

*'  He  never  became  a  preacher "  [we  shall  see  that  this  does  not 
^PPty  ^o  his  preaching  in  the  Sichiiana  language],  "  and  in  the  first 
letter  I  received  from  him  from  Elizabeth  Town  in  Africa  he  says,  '  I 
am  a  very  poor  preacher,  having  a  bad  delivery,  and  some  of  them 
said  if  they  knew  I  was  to  preach  again  they  Avould  not  enter  the 
chapel,  A\  hether  this  was  all  on  account  of  my  manner  I  don't  know ; 
but  the  truth  which  I  uttered  seemed  to  plague  very  much  the  person 
"who  supplies  the  missionaries  with  Avagons  and  oxen.  (They  were 
bad  ones.)  My  subject  Avas  the  necessity  of  adopting  the  benevolent 
spirit  of  the  Son  of  God,  and  abandoning  the  selfishness  of  the  world.' 
Each  student  at  Ongar  had  also  to  conduct  family  worship  in  rotation. 
I  was  much  impressed  by  the  fact  that  Livingstone  never  prayed 
without  the  petition  that  we  might  imitate  Christ  in  all  his  imitable 
perfections."^ 

In  the  Autobiography  of  Mrs.  Gilbert,  an  eminent 
member  of  the  family  of  the  Taylors  of  Ongar,  there 
occur  some  reminiscences  of  Livingstone,  corresponding 
to  those  here  given  by  Mr,  Moore,^ 

The  Rev,  Isaac  Taylor,  LL.D.,  now' rector  of  Settring- 
ham,  York,  son  of  the  celebrated  author  of  The  Natural 
History  of  Enthusiasm,  and  himself  author  of  Words  and 
Places,  Etruscan  Researches,  etc.,  has  kindly  furnished  us 
with  the  following  recollection  :  "  I  well  remember  as  a  boy 
taking  country  rambles  with  Livingstone  when  he  was 
studying  at  Ongar.  Mr,  Cecil  had  several  missionary 
students,  but  Livingstone  was  the  only  one  whose  per- 
sonality made  any  impression  on  my  boyish  imagination, 
I  might  sum  up  my  impression  of  him  in  two  words — 
Simplicity  and  Resolution,  Now,  after  nearly  forty  years, 
I  remember  his  step,  the  characteristic  forward  tread, 
firm,  simple,  resolute,  neither  fast  nor  slow,  no  hurry  and 
no  dawdle,  but  which  evidently  meant — getting  there.  "^ 

*  In  connection  with  this  prayer,  it  is  interesting  to  note  the  impression  made  by 
Livingstone  nearly  t^yenty  j'ears  afterwards  on  one  who  saw  him  but  twice — once 
at  a  public  breakfast  in  Edinburgh,  and  again  at  the  British  Association  in  Dublin 
in  1857.  We  refer  to  Mrs.  Sime,  sister  of  Livingstone's  early  friend,  Professor 
George  Wilson  of  Edinburgh.  Mrs.  Sime  WTites  :  "  I  never  knew  any  one  who 
gave  me  more  the  idea  of  power  over  other  men,  such  power  as  our  Saviour 
showed  while  on  earth,  the  power  of  love  and  purity  combined." 

=  Page  38(3,  third  editioji. 

^  On  one  occasion,  in  conversation  ■with  his  former  pastor,  the  Eev.  John  Moir, 


1 836-40.]  MISSIONAR  Y  PREPARA  TJON.  29 

We  resume  Mr.  Moore's  reminiscences  : — 

"  Wheii  three  months  had  elapsed,  Mr,  Cecil  sent  in  his  report  to 
the  Board.  Judging  from  Livingstone's  hesitating  manner  in  con- 
ducting family  Avorship,  and  while  praying  on  the  week-days  in  the 
chapel,  and  also  from  his  failure  so  complete  in  preaching,  an  unfavour- 
able report  Avas  given  in.  .  .  .  Happily,  Avhen  it  Avas  read,  and  a 
decision  Avas  about  to  be  given  against  him,  some  one  pleaded  hard 
that  his  probation  should  be  extended,  and  so  he  had  seA'eral  months' 
additional  trial  granted.  I  sailed  in  the  same  boat,  and  Avas  also  sent 
back  to  Ongar  as  a  naughty  boy.  ...  At  last  Ave  had  so  improved 
that  both  Avere  fully  accepted.  Livingstone  AA^ent  to  London  to  pursue 
his  medical  studies,  and  I  Avent  to  Cheshunt  College.  A  day  or  tAvo 
after  reaching  College,  I  sent  to  Livingstone,  asking  him  to  purchase  a 
second-hand  carpet  for  my  room.  He  Avas  quite  scandalised  at  such 
an  exhibition  of  effeminacy,  and  positively  refused  to  gratify  my  Avish. 
.  .  .  In  the  spring  of  184:0  I  met  Livingstone  at  London  in  Exeter 
Hall,  Avhen  Prince  Albert  delivered  his  maiden  speech  in  England.  I 
remember  hoAV  nearly  he  Avas  brought  to  silence  Avhen  the  speech, 
Avhich  he  had  lodged  on  the  brim  of  his  hat,  fell  into  it,  as  deafening 
cheers  made  it  vibrate.  A  day  or  tAvo  after,  Ave  heard  Binney  deliver 
his  masterly  missionary  sermon,  '  Christ  seeing  of  the  travail  of  his 
soul  and  being  satisfied.'  " 

The  meetinor  at  Exeter  Hall  was  held  to  inano^nrate 
the  Niger  Expedition.  It  was  on  this  occasion  that 
Samuel  Wilberforce  became  known  as  a  great  platform 
orator.^  It  must  have  been  pleasant  to  Livingstone  in 
after  years  to  recall  the  circumstance  when  he  became  a 
friend  and  correspondent  of  the  Bishop  of  Oxford. 

Notwithstanding  the  dear  postage  of  the  time,  Liviug- 
stone  wrote  regularly  to  his  friends,  but  few  of  his  letters 

Livingstone  spoke  of  Mr.  Isaac  Taylor,  who  liad  shoAvn  him  much  kindness,  ami 
often  invited  him  to  dine  in  his  house.  He  said  that  though  Mr.  Taylor  was  con- 
nected Avith  the  Indejjendents,  he  Avas  attached  to  the  principles  of  the  Church  of 
England.  Mr.  Taylor  used  to  lay  very  great  stress  on  acquaintance  A\dth  the 
Avritings  of  the  Fathers  as  necessary  for  meeting  the  claims  of  the  Tractarians,  and 
did  not  tliink  that  that  studj'  Avas  sufficiently  encouraged  by  the  Nonconformists. 
Any  one  who  has  been  in  Mr.  Taylor's  study  at  Stanford  Rivers,  and  who 
remembers  the  top-heavy  row  of  Patristic  folios  that  crowned  his  collection  of 
books,  and  the  glance  of  pride  he  cast  on  them  as  he  asked  his  visitor  -whetlier 
many  men  in  his  Church  Avere  well  read  in  the  Fathers,  will  be  at  no  loss  to 
A-erify  this  reminiscence.  Certainly  Livingstone  had  no  such  qualification,  and 
undoubtedly  he  never  missed  it. 

^  Life,  of  Bisliop  Wilberforce,  \o\.  i.  p.  160. 


30  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  ii. 

have  survived.  One  of  the  few,  dated  5th  May  1839,  is 
addressed  to  his  sister,  and  in  it  he  says  that  there  had 
been  some  intention  of  sending  him  abroad  at  once, 
but  that  he  was  very  desirous  of  getting  more  edu- 
cation. The  letter  contains  very  little  news,  but  is 
full  of  the  most  devout  aspirations  for  himself  and  exhor- 
tations to  his  sister.  Alluding  to  the  remark  of  a  friend 
that  they  should  seek  to  be  "uncommon  Christians,  that 
is,  eminently  holy  and  devoted  servants  of  the  Most 
High,"  he  urges  : — 

"Let  us  seek — and  with  the  conviction  that  we  cannot  do  withoyt 
it — that  all  selfishness  be  extirpated,  pride  banished,  unbelief  driven 
from  the  mind,  every  idol  dethroned,  and  everything  hostile  to  holiness 
and  opposed  to  the  divine  will  crucified ;  that  '  holiness  to  the  Lord  ' 
may  be  engraven  on  the  heart,  and  evermore  characterise  our  Avhole 
conduct.  This  is  what  we  ought  to  strive  after ;  this  is  the  way  to  be 
happy  \  this  is  what  our  Saviour  loves — entire  surrender  of  the  heart. 
May  He  enable  us  by  His  Spirit  to  persevere  till  we  attain  it!  All 
comes  from  Him,  the  disposition  to  ask  as  well  as  the  blessing  itself. 

"  I  hope  you  improve  the  talents  committed  to  you  whenever  there 
is  an  opportunity.  You  have  a  class  Avith  whom  you  have  some 
influence.  It  requires  prudence  in  the  way  of  managing  it ;  seek 
wisdom  from  above  to  direct  you ;  invseve.re — don't  be  content  with 
once  or  twice  recommending  the  Saviour  to  them — again  and  again, 
in  as  kind  a  manner  as  possible,  familiarly,  individually,  and  privately, 
exhibit  to  them  the  fountain  of  happiness  and  joy,  never  forgetting  to 
implore  divine  energy  to  accompany  your  endeavours,  and  you  need 
not  fear  that  your  labour  will  be  unfruitfid.  If  you  have  the  willing 
mind,  that  is  acccjoted ;  nothing  else  is  accepted  if  that  be  wanting. 
God  desires  that.  He  can  do  all  the  rest.  After  all,  He  is  the  sole 
agent,  for  '  the  willing  mind '  comes  alone  from  Him.  This  is  comfort- 
ing, for  when  we  think  of  the  feebleness  and  littleness  of  aU  we  do, 
Ave  might  despair  of  having  our  services  accepted,  Avore  Ave  not  assured 
that  it  is  not  these-  God  looks  to,  except  in  so  far  as  they  are  indica- 
tions of  the  state  of  the  heart." 

Dr.  LiAano'stone's  sisters  haA^e  a  distinct  recollection 
that  the  field  to  Avhich  the  Directors  intended  to  send 
him  was  the  West  Indies,  and  that  he  remonstrated  on 
the  ground  that  he  had  spent  two  years  in  medical  study, 
but  in  the  West  Indies,  where  there  Avere  regular  practi- 
tioners, his  medical  knoAAdedge  Avould  be  of  little  or  no 


1S36-40.]  MISSIONARY  PREPARATION.  31 

avail.  He  pleaded  with  the  Directors,  therefore,  that  he 
might  be  allowed  to  complete  his  medical  studies,  and  it 
was  then  that  Africa  was  provisionally  fixed  on  as  his 
destination.  It  appears,  however,  that  he  had  not  quite 
abandoned  the  thought  of  China.  Mr.  Moir,  his  former 
pastor,  writes  that  being  in  London  in  May  1839,  he 
called  at  the  Mission  House  to  make  inquiries  about  liim. 
He  asked  wliether  the  Directors  did  not  intend  to  send 
him  to  the  East  Indies,  where  the  field  w^as  so  large  and 
the  demand  so  urgent,  but  he  was  told  that  though  they 
esteemed  him  highly,  they  did  not  think  that  his  gifts 
fitted  him  for  India,  and  that  Africa  would  be  a  more 
suitable  field. 

On  returning  to  London,  Livingstone  devoted  himself 
with  special  ardour  to  medical  and  scientific  study.  The 
church  with  which  he  was  connected  was  that  of  the  late 
Eev.  Dr.  Bennett,  in  Falcon  Square.  This  led  to  his 
becoming  intimate  with  Dr.  Bennett's  son,  now  the  well- 
known  J.  Bisdon  Bennett,  M.D.,  LL.D.,  F.B.S.,  and 
President  of  the  Boyal  College  of  Physicians,  London. 
The  friendship  continued  during  the  whole  of  Dr.  Living- 
stone's life.  From  some  recollections  with  which  Dr. 
Bennett  has  kindly  furnished  us,  we  take  the  follow- 
in  o" — 

"  My  acquaintance  with  David  Livingstone  Avas  througli  the 
London  Missionary  Society,  when,  having  offered  himself  to  that 
Society,  he  came  to  London  to  carry  on  those  medical  and  other 
studies  which  he  had  commenced  in  Glasgow.  From  th^  first,  I 
became  deeply  interested  in  his  character,  and  ever  after  maintained 
a  close  friendship  with  him.  I  entertained  towards  him  a  sincere 
affection,  and  had  the  highest  admiration  of  his  endowments,  both  of 
mind  and  heart,  and  of  his  pure  and  noble  devotion  of  all  his  powers 
to  the  highest  purposes  of  life.  One  could  not  fail  to  be  impressed 
with  his  simple,  loving,  Christian  spirit,  and  the  combined  modest, 
unassuming,  and  self-reliant  character  of  the  man. 

"  He  placed  himself  under  my  guidance  in  reference  to  his  medical 
studies,  and  I  was  struck  Avith  the  amount  of  knowledge  that  he  had 
already  acquired  of  those  subjects  which  constitute  the  foundation  of 
medical  science.      He  had,  however,  little  or  no  acquaintance  with  the 


32  BAVID  LIVIiYGSTOyE.  [chap.  ii. 

practical  departments  of  medicine,  and  had  had  no  opportunities  of 
studying  the  nature  and  aspects  of  disease.  Of  these  deficiencies  he 
"was  C|uite  aware,  and  felt  the  importance  of  acquiring  as  much  practical 
knowledge  as  possible  during  his  stay  in  London.  I  was  at  that  time 
Physician  to  the  Aldersgate  Street  Dispensary,  and  was  lecturing  at 
the  Charing  Cross  Hospital  on  the  practice  of  medicine,  and  thus  was 
able  to  obtain  for  him  free  admission  to  hospital  practice  as  Avell  as 
attendance  on  my  lectures  and  my  practice  at  the  dispensary.  I  think 
that  I  also  obtained  for  him  admission  to  the  ophthalmic  hospital  in 
Moorfields.  With  these  sources  of  information  open  to  him,  he 
obtained  a  considerable  acquaintance  Avith  the  more  ordinary  forms  of 
disease,  both  surgical  and  medical,  and  an  amount  of  scientific  and 
practical  knowledge  that  could  not  fail  to  be  of  the  greatest  advantage 
to  him  in  the  distant  regions  to  Avhich  he  was  going,  away  from  all  the 
resources  of  civilisation.  His  letters  to  me,  and  indeed  all  the  record^ 
of  his  eventful  life,  demonstrate  how  great  to  him  was  the  value  of  the 
medical  knowledge  with  which  he  entered  on  missionary  life.  Thei;e 
is  abundant  evidence  that  on  various  occasions  his  own  life  was  preser\"ed 
througli  his  courageous  and  sagacious  application  of  his  scientific 
knowledge  to  his  own  needs ;  and  the  benefits  which  he  conferred  on 
the  natives  to  Avhose  Avelfare  he  devoted  himself,  and  the  wonderful 
influence  which  he  exercised  over  them,  were  in  no  small  degree  due 
to  the  humane  and  skilled  assistance  Avhich  he  was  able  to  render  as 
a  healer  of  bodily  disease.  The  account  which  he  gave  me  of  his 
perilous  encounter  Avith  the  lion,  and  the  means  he  adopted  for  the 
rejDair  of  the  serious  injuries  which  he  received,  excited  the  astonish- 
ment and  admiration  of  all  the  medical  friends  to  Avhom  I  related  it, 
as  evincing  an  amount  of  courage,  sagacity,  skill,  and  endurance  that 
have  scarcely  been  surpassed  in  the  annals  of  heroism." 

Another   distinoruislied   man    of  science   with  whom 

o 

Livingstone  became  acquainted  in  London,  and  on  whom 
he  made  an  impression  similar  to  that  made  on  Dr. 
Bennett,  was  Professor  Owen.  Part  of  the  Httle  time  at 
his  disposal  was  devoted  to  studying  the  series  of  com- 
parative anatomy  in  the  Hunterian  Museum,  under 
Professor  Owen's  charge.  Mr.  Owen  was  mterested  to 
find  that  the  Lanarkshire  student  was  horn  in  the  same 
neio'hbourhood  as  Hunter,^  but  still  more  interested  in 
the  youth  himself  and  his  great  love  of  natural  history. 

^  Not  in  the  same  parish,  as  stated  after^n-ards  by  Professor  Owen.  Hunter 
was  born  in  East  Kilbride,  and  Livingstone  in  Blantyre.  The  error  is  repeated  in 
notices  of  Livingstone  in  some  other  (juaiters. 


1836-40.]  MISSIONARY  FREPARATJ ON.  33 

On  taking  leave,  Livingstone  promised  to  bear  his 
instructor  in  mind  if  any  curiosity  fell  in  his  way. 
Years  passed,  and  as  no  communication  reached  him, 
Mr.  Owen  was  disposed  to  class  the  promise  with  too 
many  others  made  in  the  like  circumstances.  But  on  his 
first  return  to  this  country  Livingstone  presented  himself, 
beariDg  the  tusk  of  an  elephant  with  a  spiral  curve.  He 
had  found  it  in  the  heart  of  Africa,  and  it  was  not  easy 
of  transport.  "You  may  recall,"  said  Professor  Owen,  at 
the  Farewell  Festival  in  1858,  "the  difficulties  of  the 
progress  of  the  weary  sick  traveller  on  the  bullock's 
back.  Every  pound  weight  was  of  moment ;  but  Living- 
stone said,  '  Owen  shall  have  this  tusk,'  and  he  jDlaced  it 
in  my  hands  in  London."  Professor  Owen  recorded  this 
as  a  proof  of  Livingstone's  inflexible  adherence  to  his 
word.  With  equal  justice  we  may  quote  it  as  a  proof 
of  his  undying  gratitude  to  any  one  that  had  sliovvn 
him  kindness. 

On  all  his  fellow-students  and  acquaintances  the 
simplicity,  frankness,  and  kindliness  of '  Livingstone's 
character  made  a  deep  impression.  Mr.  J.  S.  Cook,  now 
of  London,  who  spent  three  months  with  him  at  Ongar, 
writes  :  "  He  was  so  kind  and  gentle  in  word  and  deed  to 
all  about  him  that  all  loved  him.  •  He  had  always  words 
of  sympathy  at  command,  and  was  ready  to  perform  acts 
of  sympathy  for  those  who  were  suflPermg."  The  Kev. 
G.  D.  Watt,  a  brother  Scotchman,  who  went  as  a 
missionary  to  India,  has  a  vivid  remembrance  of  Living- 
stone's mode  of  discussion  ;  he  showed  great  simplicity 
of  view,  along  with  a  certain  roughness  or  bluntness  of 
manner  ;  great  kindliness,  and  yet  great  persistence  in 
holding  to  his  own  ideas.  But  none  of  his  friends  seem 
to  have  had  any  foresight  of  the  eminence  he  was  destined 
to  attain.  The  Directors  of  the  Society  did  not  even 
rank  him  among  their  ablest  men.  It  is  interesting  to 
contrast  the  opinion  entertained  of  him  then  with  that 

c 


34  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  ii. 

expressed  by  Sir  Bartle  Frere,  after  much  personal 
intercourse,  many  years  afterwards.  "  Of  liis  intellectual 
force  and  energy,"  wrote  Sir  Bartle,  "  he  has  given  such 
proof  as  few  men  could  afford.  Any  five  years  of  his  life 
might  in  any  other  occupation  have  established  a  character 
and  raised  for  him  a  fortune  such  as  none  but  the  most 
energetic  of  our  race  can  realise."^ 

But  his  early  friends  were  not  so  much  at  fault. 
Livingstone  was  somewhat  slow  of  maturing.  If  we  may 
say  so,  his  intellect  hung  fire  up  to  this  very  time,  and  it 
was  only  during  his  last  year  in  England  that  he  came  to 
his  intellectual  manhood,  and  showed  his  real  power. 
His  very  handwriting  shows  the  change  ;  from  being 
cramped  and  feeble  it  suddenly  becomes  clear,  firm,  and 
upright,  very  neat,  but  quite  the  hand  of  a  vigorous 
independent  man. 

Livingstone's  prospects  of  getting  to  China  had  been 
damaged  by  the  Opium  War ;  while  it  continued,  no  new 
appointments  could  be  made,  even  had  the  Directors 
wished  to  send  him  there.  It  was  in  these  circumstances 
that  he  came  into  contact  with  his  countryman,  Mr.  (now 
Dr.)  Moffat,  who  was  then  in  England,  creating  much 
interest  in  his  South  African  mission.  The  idea  of  his 
going  to  Africa  became  a  settled  thing,  and  was  soon 
carried  into  effect. 

"  I  had  occasion  "  (Dr.  Moffat  has  informed  us)  "  to  call  for  some 
one  at  Mrs.  Sewell's,  a  boarding-house  for  young  missionaries  in 
Aldersgate  Street,  where  Livingstone  lived.  I  observed  soon  that  this 
young  man  was  interested  in  my  story,  that  he  would  sometimes  come 
quietly  and  ask  me  a  question  or  two,  and  that  he  Avas  always  desirous 
to  know  where  I  was  to  speak  in  public,  and  attended  on  these 
occasions.  By  and  by  he  asked  me  whether  I  thought  he  would  do 
for  Africa.  I  said  I  believed  he  would,  if  he  would  not  go  to  an  old 
station,  but  would  advance  to  unoccupied  ground,  specifying  the  vast 
plain  to  the  north,  where  I  had  sometimes  seen,  in  the  morning  sun, 
the  smoke  of  a  thousand  villages,  Avhere  no  missionary  had  ever  been. 
At  last  Livingstone  said  :  '  What  is  the  use  of  my  waiting  fur  the  cud 

'  Good  WonU,  1S74,  p.  2S5. 


1836-40.]  MISSIONARY  PREPARATION.  35 

of  this  abominable  opium   warl     I  will  go  at  once  to  Africa.'     The 
Directors  concurred,  and  Africa  became  his  sphere." 

It  is  no  wonder  that  all  his  life  Livingstone  had  a 
veiy  strong  faith  in  Providence,  for  at  every  turn  of  his 
career  up  to  this  point,  some  unlooked-for  circumstance 
had  come  in  to  give  a  new  direction  to  his  history.  First, 
his  reading  Dick  s  P/u7o5opA?/  of  a  Future  State,  which  led 
him  to  Christ,  but  did  not  lead  him  away  from  science  ; 
then  his  falling  in  with  Gutzlaff's  Apj^eal,  which  induced 
him  to  become  a  medical  missionary ;  the  Oj^ium  War, 
which  closed  China  against  him  ;  the  friendly  word  of  the 
Director  who  procured  for  him  another  trial ;  Mr.  Moffat's 
visit,  which  deepened  his  interest  in  Africa ;  and  finally, 
the  issue  of  a  dano^erous  illness  that  attacked  him  in 
London, — all  indicated  the  unseen  hand  that  was  pre- 
paring him  for  his  great  work. 

The  meeting  of  Livingstone  with  Moffat  is  far  too 
important  an  event  to  be  passed  over  without  remark. 
Both  directly  and  indirectly  Mr.  Mofiat's  influence  on  his 
young  brother,  afterwards  to  become  his  son-in-law,  was 
remarkable.  In  after  life  they  had  a  thorough  apprecia- 
tion of  each  other.  No  family  on  the  face  of  the  globe 
could  have  been  so  helpful  to  Livingstone  in  connection 
with  the  great  work  to  which  he  gave  hhnself.  If  the 
old  Homan  fashion  of  surnames  still  prevailed,  there  is  no 
household  of  which  all  the  members  would  have  been 
better  entitled  to  put  Africanus  after  their  name.  The 
interests  of  the  great  continent  were  dear  to  them  all. 
In  1872,  when  one  of  the  Search  Expeditions  for  Living- 
stone was  fitted  out,  a  grandson  of  Dr.  Moffat,  another 
Robert  Moffat,  was  among  those  who  set  out  in  the  hope 
of  relieving  him  ;  cut  off  at  the  very  beginning,  in  the 
flower  of  his  youth,  he  left  his  bones  to  moulder  in 
African  soil. 

The  illness  to  which  we  have  alluded  was  an  attack  of 
congestion   of  the  liver,  with  an  affection  of  the  lungs. 


36  DA  VID  LIVINGSTOXE.  [chap.  ii. 

It  seemed  likely  to  prove  fatal,  and  the  only  chance  of 
recovery  appeared  to  be  a  visit  to  his  home,  and  return 
to  his  native  air.  In  accompa,nying  him  to  the  steamer, 
Mr.  Moore  found  him  so  weak  that  he  could  scarcely  walk 
on  board.  He  parted  from  him  in  tears,  fearing  that  he 
had  but  a  few  days  to  live.  But  the  voyage  and  the 
visit  had  a  wonderful  effect,  and  very  soon  Living- 
stone was  in  his  usual  health.  The  parting  with  his 
father  and  mother,  as  they  afterwards  told  Mr.  Moore, 
w^as  very  affecting.  It  happened,  however,  that  they  met 
once  more.  It  was  felt  that  the  possession  of  a  medical 
diploma  would  be  of  service,  and  Liv^ingstone  returned  to 
Scotland  in  November  1840,  and  passed  at  Glasgow  as 
Licentiate  of  the  Faculty  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons.  It 
"vvas  on  this  occasion  he  found  it  so  inconvenient  to  have 
opinions  of  his  own  and  the  knack  of  sticking  to  them. 
It  seemed  as  if  he  was  going  to  be  rejected  for  obstinately 
maintaining  his  views  in  regard  to  the  stethoscope ;  but 
he  pulled  through.  A  single  night  was  all  that  he  could 
spend  wdtli  his  family,  and  they  had  so  much  to  speak  of 
that  David  proposed  they  should  sit  up  all  night.  This, 
however,  his  mother  would  not  hear  of  "  I  remember 
my  father  and  him,"  writes  his  sister,  "  talking  over  the 
prospects  of  Christian  missions.  They  agreed  that  the 
time  would  come  when  rich  men  and  great  men  would 
think  it  an  honour  to  support  whole  stations  of  mission- 
aries, instead  of  spending  their  money  on  hounds  and 
horses.  On  the  morning  of  17th  November,  we  got  up  at 
five  o'clock.  My  mother  made  coffee.  David  read  the 
121st  and  135th  Psalms,  and  prayed.  My  father  and  he 
walked  to  Glasgow  to  catch  the  Liverpool  steamer.''  On 
the  Broomielaw,  father  and  son  looked  for  the  last  time 
on  earth  on  each  other's  faces.  The  old  man  walked  back 
slowly  to  Blantyre,  with  a  lonely  heart  no  doubt,  yet 
praising  God.  David's  face  was  now  set  in  earnest 
toward  the  Dark  Continent. 


i84i-43-!l         FIRST  TWO   YEARS  IN  AFRICA. 


CHAPTEE    III. 

FIEST    TWO   YEARS    IN    AFEICA. 

A.D.  1841-1843. 

His  ordination — Voyage  out— At  Rio  de  Janeiro— At  the  Cape — He  proceeds  to 
Kuruman — Letters— Journey  of  700  miles  to  Bechuana  country— Selection  of 
site  for  new  station — Second  excursion  to  Bechuana  country— Letter  to  his 
sister — Influence  with  chiefs — Bubi —Construction  of  a  water-dam — Sekomi 
—Woman  seized  by  a  lion— The  Bakaa—Sebehwe— Letter  to  Dr.  Risdon 
Bennett — Detention  at  Kuruman— He  visits  Sebehwe's  village — Bakhatlas — 
Sechele,  chief  of  Bakwains— Livingstone  translates  hymns— Travels  400  miles 
on  oxback — Returns  to  Kuruman— Is  authorised  to  form  new  station — 
Receives  contributions  for  native  missionary — Letters  to  Directors  on  their 
Mission  policy — He  goes  to  new  station — Fellow-travellers — Purchase  of  site 
— Letter  to  Dr.  Bennett — Desiccation  of  South  Africa — Death  of  a  servant, 
Sehamy — Letter  to  his  parents. 

On  the  20th  November  1840,  Livingstone  was  ordained 
a  missionary  in  Albion  Street  Chapel,  along  with  the 
Rev.  William  Ross,  the  service  being  conducted  by  the 
Rev.  J.  J.  Freeman  and  the  Rev.  R.  Cecil.  On  the  8th 
of  December  he  embarked  on  board  the  ship  "  George," 
under  Captain  Donaldson,  and  proceeded  to  the  Cape,  and 
thence  to  Algoa  Bay.  On  the  way  the  ship  had  to  jDut 
in  at  Rio  de  Janeiro,  and  he  had  a  glance  at  Brazil,  with 
which  he  was  greatly  charmed.  It  was  the  only  glimpse 
he  ever  got  of  any  part  of  the  great  continent  of 
America.  Writing  to  the  Rev.  G.  D.  Watt,  with  whom 
he  had  become  intimate  in  London,  and  who  was  pre- 
paring to  go  as  a  missionary  to  India,  he  says  : — 

"  It  is  certainly  the  finest  place  I  ever  saw ;  everything  delighted 
me  except  man.  .  .  .  We  lived  in  the  liome  of  an  American  Episcopal 
Methodist  minister — the  only  Protestant   missionary  in  Brazil.  .  .  . 

S3ili 


38  DA  VID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  hi. 

Tracts  and  Bibles  are  circulatfed,  and  some  effects  miglit  be  expected, 
were  a  most  injurious  influence  not  exerted  by  European  visitors. 
These  alike  disgrace  themselves  and  the  religion  they  profess  by 
drunkenness.  All  other  vices  are  common  in  Rio.  AVhen  will  the 
rays  of  Divine  ligiit  dispel  the  darkness  in  this  beautiful  empire  1 
The  climate  is  delightful.  I  wonder  if  disabled  Indian  missionaries 
could  not  make  themselves  useful  there." 

During  the  voyage  his  chief  friend  was  the  captain  of 
the  ship.  "  He  was  very  obliging  to  me,"  says  Living- 
stone, "  and  gave  me  all  the  information  respecting  the 
use  of  the  quadrant  in  his  power,  frequently  sitting  up 
till  twelve  o'clock  at  night  for*  the  purpose  of  taking  lunar 
observations  with  me."  Thus  another  qualification  was 
acquired  for  his  very  peculiar  life-woi'k.  Sundays  were 
not  times  of  refreshing,  at  least  not  beyond  his  closet. 
"The  captain  rigged  out  the  church  on  Sundays,  and  we 
had  service ;  but  I  being  a  poor  preacher,  and  the  chaplain 
addressing  them  all  as  Christians  already,  no  moral  influ- 
ence was  exerted,  and  even  had  there  been  on  Sabbath,  it 
would  have  been  neutralised  by  the  week-day  conduct. 
In  fact,  no  good  was  done."  Neither  at  Rio,  nor  on 
board  ship,  nor  anywhere,  could  good  be  done  without  the 
element  of  personal  character.  This  was  Livingstone's 
strong  conviction  to  the  end  of  his  life. 

In  his  first  letter  to  the  Directors  of  the  London 
Missionary  Society  he  tells  them  that  he  had  spent  most 
of  his  time  at  sea  in  the  study  of  theology,  and  that 
he  was  deeply  grieved  to  say  that  he  knew  of  no  spiritual 
good  having  been  done  in  the  case  of  any  one  on  board 
the  ship.  His  characteristic  honesty  thus  showed  itself 
in  his  very  first  despatch. 

Arriving  at  the  Cape,  where  the  ship  was  detained  a 
month,  he  spent  some  time  with  Dr.  Philip,  then  acting 
as  agent  for  the  Society,  w4th  informal  powers  as  super- 
intendent. Dr.  Philip  was  desirous  of  returning  home 
for  a  time,  and  very  anxious  to  find  some  one  to  take  his 
place  as  minister  of  the  congregation  of  Cape  Town,  in 


1841-43-]  FIIiST  TJFO   YEAJiS  IN  AFRICA. 


39 


Ills  absence.  The  office  was  offered  to  Livinsfstone,  who 
rejected  it  with  no  little  emj^hasis — not  for  a  moment 
would  he  think  of  it,  nor  would  he  preach  the  gospel 
within  any  other  man's  line.  He  had  not  been  long  at 
the  Cape  when  he  found  to  his  surprise  and  sorrow  that 
the  missionaries  w^ere  not  all  at  one,  either  as  to  the 
general  policy  of  the  mission,  or  in  the  matter  of  social 
intercourse  and  confidence.  The  shock  was  a  severe  one; 
it  was  not  lessened  by  what  he  came  to  know  of  the 
spirit  and  life  of  a  few — happily  only  a  few — of  his 
brethren  afterwards  ;  and  undoubtedly  it  had  an  influence 
on  his  future  life.  It  showed  him  that  there  were  mis- 
sionaries whose  profession  was  not  supported  by  a  life  of 
consistent  well-doing,  although  it  did  not  shake  his 
confidence  in  the  character  and  the  work  of  missionaries 
on  the  whole.  He  saw  that  in  the  mission  there  was 
what  might  be  called  a  colonial  side  and  a  native  side ; 
some  sympathising  with  the  colonists  and  some  with  the 
natives.  He  had  no  difficulty  in  making  up  his  mind 
between  them ;  he  drew  instinctively  to  the  party  that 
were  for  protecting  the  natives  against  the  unrighteous 
encroachments  of  the  settlers. 

On  leaving  the  ship  at  Algoa  Bay,  he  proceeded  by 
land  to  Kuruman  or  Lattakoo  in  the  Bechuana  country, 
the  most  northerly  station  of  the  Society  in  South  Africa, 
and  the  usual  residence  of  Mr.  Moffat,  who  was  still 
absent  in  England.  In  this  his  first  African  journey,  "the 
germ  of  the  future  traveller  was  apparent.  "  Crossing 
the  Orange  Biver,"  he  says,  "  I  got  my  vehicle  aground, 
and  my  oxen  got  out  of  order,  some  with  their  heads  where 
their  tails  should  be,  and  others  with  their  heads  twisted 
round  in  the  yoke  so  far  that  they  appeared  bent  on 
committing '  suicide,  or  overturning  the  wagon.  ...  I 
like  travelling  very  much  indeed.  There  is  so  much 
freedom  connected  with  our  African  manners.  We  pitch 
our  tent,  make  our  fire,  etc.,  wherever  we  choose,  walk. 


40  JDA  VID  LIVINGSTOXE.  [chap.  hi. 

ride,  or  shoot  at  abundance  of  all  sorts  of  game  as  our 
inclination  leads  us  ;  but  there  is  a  great  drawback  :  we 
can't  study  or  read  when  we  please.     I  feel   this  very 
much.       I    have  made   but  very  little    progress    in   the 
language  (can  speak  a  little  Dutch),  but  I  long  for  the 
time  when  I  shall  give  my  undivided  attention  to  it,  and 
then  be  furnished  with  the  means  of  makinof  known  the 
truth  of  the  gospel."      AVhile  at  the  Cape,  Livingstone    \ 
liad  heard  something  of  a  fresh-water  lake  ('Ngami)  which      ^ 
all  the  missionaries  were  eager  to  see.     If  only  they  would 
give  him  a  month  or  two  to  learn  the  colloquial  language, 
he  said  they  might  spare  themselves  the  pams  of  being 
"  the  first  in  at  the  death."     It  is  interesting  to  remark        . 
further  that,  in  this  first  journey,  science  had  begun  to   v 
receive  its  share  of  attention.      He  is  already  bent  on 
making  a  collection  for  the  use  of  Professor  Owen,^  and 
is  enthusiastic  in  describing  some  agatised  trees  and  other 
curiosities  which  he  met  with. 

Writing  to  his  parents  from  Port  Elizabeth,  19th  May 
1841,  he  gives  his  first  impressions  of  Africa.  He  had 
been  at  a  station  called  Hankey  : — 

"The  scenery  was  very  fine.  The  white  sand  in  some  places 
near  the  beach  drifted  up  in  large  wreaths  exactly  like  snow.  One 
might  imagine  himself  in  Scotland  Avere  there  not  a  hot  sun  overhead. 
The  woods  present  an  aspect  of  strangeness,  for  everywhere  the  eye 
meets  the  foreign-looking  tree  from  which  the  bitter  aloes  is  extracted, 
popping  up  its  head  among  the  mimosa  bushes  and  stunted  acacias. 
Beautiful  humming-birds  fly  about  in  great  numljers,  sucking  the 
nectar  from  the  flowers,  which  are  in  great  abundance  and  A'ery 
beautiful.  I  was  much  pleased  with  my  visit  to  Hankey.  .  .  The 
state  of  the  people  presents  so  many  features  of  interest,  that  one  may 
talk  about  it  and  convey  some  idea  of  what  the  Gospel  has  done.  The 
full  extent  of  the  benefit  received  can,  however,  be  understood  only 
by  those  who  witness  it  in  contrast  with  other  places  that  have  not 
been  so  highly  favoured.  My  expectations  have  been  far  exceeded. 
Everything  I  witnessed  surpassed  my  hopes,  and  if  this  one  station  is 
a  fair  sample  of  the  whole,  the  statements  of  the  missionaries  with 
regard  to  their  success  are  far  within  the  mark.  The  Hottentots  of 
Hankey  appear  to  be  in  a  state  similar  to  that  of  our  forefathers  in 
*  This  collection  never  reached  its  dcctiuation. 


1841-43]  FIRST  TWO  YEARS  IN  AFRICA.  41 

the  days  immediately  preceding  the  times  of  the  Covenanters.  They 
have  a  prayer-meeting  every  morning  at  four  o'clock,  and  ivell  attended. 
They  began  it  during  a  visitation  of  measles  among  them,  and  liked  it 
so  much,  that  they  still  continue." 

He  goes  on  to  say  that  as  the  natives  had  no  clocks  or  ^ 
■watches,  mistakes  sometimes  occurred  about  ringing  the 
bell  for  this  meeting,  and  sometimes  the  people  found 
themselves  assembled  at  twelve  or  one  o'clock  instead  of 
four.  The  welcome  to  the  missionaries  (their  own  mis- 
sionary was  returning  from  the  Cape  with  Livingstone) 
was  wonderful.  Muskets  were  fired  at  their  approach, 
then  big  guns ;  and  then  men,  women,  and  children, 
rushed  at  the  top  of  their  speed  to  shake  hands  and 
welcome  them.  The  missionary  had  lost  a  little  boy,  and 
out  of  respect  each  of  the  people  had  something  black  on 
his  head.  Both  public  worship  and  family  worship  were 
very  interesting,  the  singing  of  hymns  being  very  beautiful. 
The  bearinof  of  these  Christianised  Hottentots  was  in 
complete  contrast  to  that  of  a  Dutch  family  whom  he 
visited  as  a  medical  man  one  Sunday.  There  was  no 
Sunday ;  the  man's  wife  and  daughters  were  dancing 
before  the  house,  w^hile  a  black  played  the  fiddle. 

His  instructions  from  the  Directors  were  to  go  to 
Kuruman,  remain  there  till  Mr,  Moffat  should  return  from 
England,  and  turn  his  attention  to  the  formation  of  a  new 
station  farther  north,  awaiting  more  specific  instructions. 
He  arrived  at  Kuruman  on  the  31st  July  1841,  but  no 
instructions  had  come  from  the  Directors ;  his  sphere  of 
work  was  quite  undetermined,  and  he  began  to  entertain 
the  idea  of  going  to  Abyssinia.  There  could  be  no  doubt 
that  a  Christian  missionary  was  needed  there,  for  the 
country  had  none  ;  but  if  he  should  go,  he  felt  that  pro- 
bably he  would  never  return.  In  writing  of  this  to  his 
friend  Watt,  he  used  words  almost  prophetic:  "Whatever 
way  my  life  may  be  spent  so  as  but  to  promote  the  glory 
of  our  gracious  God,  I  feel  anxious  to  do  it.   .  .  .  My  life 


42  DA  VID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  hi. 

may  he  spent  as  p)^^oJitahlij  as  a  ])ioneer  as  in  any  other 
IV  ay" 

In  his  next  letter  to  the  London  Missionary  Society, 
dated  Kuruman,  23d  September  1841,  he  gives  his\  / 
impressions  of  the  field,  and  unfolds  an  idea  which  took  * 
hold  of  him  at  the  very  beginning,  and  never  lost  its 
grip.  It  was,  that  there  was  not  population  enough 
about  the  South  to  justify  a  concentration  of  missionary 
labour  there,  and  that  the  j)olicy  of  the  Society  ought  to 
be  one  of  expansion,  moving  out  far  and  wide  wherever 
there  was  an  opening,  and  making  the  utmost  possible 
use  of  native  agency,  in  order  to  cultivate  so  wide  a  field. 
In  Eno-land  he  had  thouo;ht  that  Kuruman  mio-ht  be 
made  a  great  missionary  institute,  whence  the  beams  of 
divine  truth  might  diverge  in  every  direction,  through 
native  agents  supplied  from  among  the  converts ;  but 
since  he  came  to  the  spot  he  had  been  obhged  to  abandon 
that  notion ;  not  that  the  Kuruman  mission  had  not  been 
successful,  or  that  the  attendance  at  pubhc  worshijD  was 
small,  but  simply  because  the  population  was  meagre, 
and  seemed  more  likely  to  become  smaller  than  larger. 
The  field  from  which  native  ao-ents  miii^ht  be  drawn  was 
thus  too  small.  Farther  north  there  was  a  denser 
population.  It  was  therefore  his  purpose,  along  with  a 
brother  missionary,  to  make  an  early  journey  to  the 
interior,  and  bury  himself  among  the  natives,  to  learn 
their  language,  and  slip  into  their  modes  of  thinking  and 
feeling.  He  purposed  to  take  with  him  two  of  the  best 
qualified  native  Christians  of  Kuruman,  to  plant  them  as 
teacheis  in  some  promising  locality ;  and  in  case  any 
difficulty  should  arise  about  their  maintenance,  he  offered, 
with  characteristic  generosity,  to  defray  the  cost  of  one 
of  them  from  his  own  resources. 

Accordingly,  in  company  with  a  brother  missionary 
from  Kuruman,  a  journey  of  seven  hundred  miles  was 
performed  before  the  end  of  the  year,  leading  chiefly  to 


1841-43-]          FIRST  TWO   YEARS  IN  AFRICA.  43 

two  results :  in  the  first  place,  a  strong  confirmation  of 
his  views  on  the  subject  of  native  agency ;  and  in  the 
second  place,  the  selection  of  a  station,  two  hundred  and 
fifty  miles  north  of  Kuruman,  as  the  most  suitable  for 
missionary  operations.  Seven  hundred  miles  travelled 
over  move  Africano  seemed  to  indicate  a  vast  territory ; 
but  on  looking  at  it  on  the  map,  it  was  a  mere  speck  on 
the  continent  of  heathenism.  How  was  that  continent 
ever  to  be  evansrelised  ?  He  could  think  of'  no  method 
except  an  extensive  employment  of  native  agency.  And 
the  natives,  when  qualified,  were  admirably  quahfied. 
Their  warm,  affectionate  manner  of  dealing  with  their 
fellow-men,  their  ability  to  present  the  truth  to  their 
minds  freed  from  the  strangeness  of  which  foreigners 
could  not  divest  it,  and  the  eminent  success  of  those 
employed  by  the  brethren  of  Griqua  Town,  were  greatly 
in  then'  favour.  Two  natives  had  likewise  been  employed 
recently  by  the  Kuruman  Mission,  and  these  had  been 
highly  efficient  and  successful.  If  the  Directors  would 
allow  him  to  employ  more  of  these,  conversions  would 
increase  in  a  compound  ratio,  and  regions  not  yet  ex- 
plored by  Europeans  would  soon  be  supphed  with 
the  bread  of  life. 

In  regard  to  the  spot  selected  for  a  mission,  there 
were  many  considerations  in  its  favour.  In  the  im- 
mediate neighboiu"hood  of  Kuruman  the  chiefs  hated 
the  gospel,  because  it  deprived  them  of  their  super- 
numerary wives.  In  the  region  farther  north,  this 
feeling  had  not  yet  established  itself;  on  the  contrary, 
there  was  an  impression  favourable  to  Europeans,  and  a 
desire  for  their  alliance.  These  Bechuana  tribes  had 
suffered  much  from  the  marauding  invasions  of  their 
neighbours  ;  and  recently,  the  most  terrible  marauder  of 
the  country,  Mosilikatse,  after  being  driven  westwards 
by  the  Dutch  Boers,  had  taken  up  his  abode  on  the  banks 
of  a  central  lake,  and  resumed  his  raids,    which   were 


44  I) A  VID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  hi. 

keeping  the  whole  country  in  alarm.  The  more  peaceful 
tribes  had  heard  of  the  value  of  the  white  man,  and  of 
the  weapons  by  which  a  mere  handful  of  whites  had 
repulsed  hordes  of  marauders.  They  were  therefore  dis- 
posed to  welcome  the  stranger,  although  this  state  of 
feeling  could  not  be  relied  on  as  sure  to  continue,  for 
Griqua  hunters  and  individuals  from  tribes  hostile  to  the 
gospel  were  moving  northwards,  and  not  only  circulating 
rumours  unfavourable  to  missionaries,  but  by  their  wicked 
lives  introducing  diseases  previously  unknown.  If  these 
regions  therefore  were  to  be  taken  possession  of  by  the 
gospel,  no  time  was  to  be  lost.  For  himself,  Livingstone 
had  no  hesitation  in  going  to  reside  in  the  midst  of  these 
savages,  hundreds  of  miles  away  from  civilisation,  not 
merely  for  a  visit,  but,  if  necessary,  for  the  whole  of  his 
life. 

In  writing  to  his  sisters  after  this  journey  (8th  De- 
cember 1841),  he  gives  a  graphic  account  of  the  country, 
and  some  interesting  notices  of  the  people  : — 

"  Janet,  I  suppose,  will  feel  anxious  to  know  Avliat  our  dinner  was. 
We  boiled  a  piece  of  tlie  flesh  of  a  rhinoceros  which  was  toughness" 
itself,  the  night  before.  The  meat  was  our  supper,  and  porridge  made 
of  Indian  corn-meal  and  gravy  of  the  meat  made  a  very  good  dinner 
next  day.  "When  ab^ut  150  miles  from  home  we  came  to  a  large 
village.  The  chief  had  sore  eyes ;  I  doctored  them,  and  he  fed  us 
pretty  well  with  milk  and  beans,  and  sent  a  fine  buck  after  me  as  a 
present.  When  Ave  had  got  about  ten  or  twelve  miles  on  the  way,  a  little 
girl  about  eleven  or  twelve  years  of  age  came  up  and  sat  down  under 
my  wagon,  having  run  away  for  the  purpose  of  coming  with  us  to 
Kuruman.  She  had  lived  with  a  sister  whom  she  had  lately  lost  by 
death.  Another  family  took  possession  of  her  for  the  purpose  of 
selling  her  as  soon  as  she  was  old  enough  for  a  wife.  But  not  liking 
this,  she  determined  to  run  away  from  them  and  come  to  some  friends 
near  Kuruman.  With  this  intention  she  came,  and  thought  of  walk- 
ing all  the  way  behind  my  wagon.  I  was  pleased  with  the  deter- 
mination of  the  little  creature,  and  gave  her  some  food.  But  before 
we  had  remained  long  there,  I  heard  her  sobbing  violently  as  if  her 
heart  would  break.  On  looking  round,  I  observed  the  cause.  A  man 
Avith  a  gun  had  been  sent  after  her,  and  he  liad  just  arrived.  I  did 
not  know  Avell  Avhat  to  do  now,  but  I  Avas  not  in  perplexity  long,  for 
Pomare,  a  native  convert  Avho  accompanied  us,  started  up  and  defended 


I84I-43-]  FIRST  TWO    YEARS  IN  AFRICA.  45 

her  cause.  He  being  the  son  of  a  chief,  cand  possessed  of  some  little 
authority,  managed  the  matter  nicely.  She  had  been  loaded  with 
beads  to  render  her  more  attractive,  and  fetch  a  higher  price.  These 
she  stripped  off  and  gave  to  the  man,  and  desired  him  to  go  away.  I 
afterAvards  took  measures  for  hiding  her,  and  though  fifty  men  had 
come  for  her,  they  would  not  have  got  her." 

The  story  reads  like  an  allegory  or  a  prophecy.  In 
the  person  of  the  little  maid,  oppressed  and  enslaved 
Africa  comes  to  the  good  Doctor  for  protection  ;  instinc- 
tively she  knows  she  may  trust  him ;  his  heart  opens  at 
once,  his  ingenuity  contrives  a  v^ay  of  protection  and 
deliverance,  and  he  will  never  give  her  up.  It  is  a  little  i 
picture  of  Livingstone's  life. 

In  fulfilment  of  a  promise  made  to  the  natives  in  the 
interior  that  he  would  return  to  them,  Livingstone  set 
out  on  a  second  tour  into  the  interior  of  the  Bechuana 
country  on  10th  February  1842.  His  objects  were,  first,  v 
to  acquire  the  native  language  more  perfectly,  and 
second,  by  susj^ending  his  medical  practice,  which  had 
become  inconveniently  large  at  Kuruman,  to  give  his 
undivided  attention  to  the  subject  of  native  agents.  He 
took  with  him  two  native  members  of  the  Kuruman 
church,  and  two  other  natives  for  the  management  of 
the  wagon. 

The  first  person  that  specially  engaged  his  interest  in 
this  journey  was  a  chief  of  the  name  of  Bubi,  whose 
people  were  Bakwains.  With  him  he  stationed  one  of 
the  native  agents  as  a  teacher,  the  chief  himself  collecting 
the  children  and  supplying  them  with  food.  The  honesty 
of  the  people  was  shown  in  their  leaving  untouched  all 
the  contents  of  his  wagon,  though  crowds  of  them 
visited  it.  Livingstone  was  already  acquiring  a  powerful 
mfluence,  both  with  chiefs  and  people,  the  result  of  his 
considerate  and  conciliatory  treatment  of  both.  He  had 
already  observed  the  failure  of  some  of  his  brethren  to 
influence  them,  and  his  sagacity  had  discerned  the  cause. 
His  success  in  inducing  Bubi's  people  to  dig  a  canal  was 


46  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  iii. 

contrasted  in  a  characteristic  passage  of  a  jorivate  letter, 
with  the  experience  of  others  : — 

"  The  doctor  and  the  rainmaker  among  these  people  are  one  and 
the  same  person.  As  I  did  iiot  like  to  be  behind  my  professional 
brethren,  I  declared  I  could  make  rain  too,  not  however  by  enchant- 
ments like  them,  but  by  leading  out  their  river  for  irrigation.  The 
idea  pleased  mightily,  and  to  work  we  went  instanter.  Even  the 
chief's  own  doctor  is  at  it,  and  works  like  a  good  fellow,  laughing 
heartily  at  the  cunning  of  the  '  foreigner '  Avho  can  make  rain  so.  We 
have  only  one  spade,  and  this  is  without  a  handle ;  and  yet  by  means 
of  sticks  sharpened  to  a  point  Ave  have  performed  all  the  digging  of  a 
pretty  long  canal.  The  earth  was  lifted  out  in  '  gowpens '  and 
carried  to  the  huge  dam  we  have  built  in  karosses  (skin  cloaks), 
tortoise-shells,  or  wooden  bowls.  We  intended  nothing  of  the 
ornamental  in  it,  but  when  we  came  to  a  huge  stone,  we  were  forced 
to  search  for  a  way  round  it.  The  consequence  is,  it  has  assumed  a 
beautifully  serpentine  appearance.  This  is,  I  believe,  the  first  instance 
in  which  Bechuanas  have  been  got  to  work  without  wages.  It  was 
with  the  utmost  difficulty  the  earlier  missionaries  got  them  to  do  any- 
thing. The  missionaries  solicited  their  permission  to  do  what  they 
did,  and  this  was  the  very  way  to  make  them  show  off  their  airs,  for 
they  are  so  disobliging ;  if  they  perceive  any  one  in  the  least  depen- 
dent upon  them,  they  immediately  begin  to  tyrannise.  A  more  mean 
and  selfish  vice  certainly  does  not  exist  in  the  world.  I  am  trying  a 
different  plan  Avith  them.  I  make  my  presence  Avith  any  of  them  a 
favour,  and  Avhen  they  show  any  impudence,  I  threaten  to  leave  them, 
and  if  they  don't  amend,  I  put  my  threat  into  execution.  By  a  bold 
free  course  among  them  I  have  had  not  the  least  difficulty  in  manag- 
ing the  most  fierce.  They  are  in  one  sense  fierce,  and  in  another  the 
greatest  coAvards  in  the  Avorld.  A  kick  would,  I  am  persuaded,  quell 
the  courage  of  the  bravest  of  them.  Add  to  this  the  report  Avhich 
many  of  them  verily  believe,  that  I  am  a  great  Avizard,  and  you  Avill 
understand  how  I  can  Avith  ease  visit  any  of  them.  Those  Avho  do 
not  love,  fear  me,  and  so  truly  in  their  eyes  am  I  possessed  of  super- 
natural poAver,  some  have  not  hesitated  to  affirm  I  am  capable  of  even 
raising  the  dead  !  The  people  of  a  village  visited  by  a  French 
brother  actually  believed  it.  Their  belief  of  my  poAvers,  I  suppose, 
accounts  too  for  the  fact  that  I  have  not  missed  a  single  article  either 
from  the  house  or  Avagon  since  I  came  amongst  them,  and  this, 
although  all  my  things  lay  scattered  about  the  room,  Avhile  crammed 
Avith  patients." 

It  was  mifortunate  that  the  teacher  whom  Living- 
stone stationed  with  Bubi's  people  was  seized  with 
a  violent  fever,   so    that  he  was  obliged  to  bring  him 


184I-43-]  FIRST  TWO   YEARS  IN  AFRICA.  47 

away.  As  for  Bubi  himself,  he  was  afterwards  burned 
to  death  by  an  explosion  of  gunpowder,  which  one  of 
his  sorcerers  was  trying,  by  means  of  burnt  roots,  to 
ii;2.-bewitch. 

In  advancing,  Livingstone  had  occasion  to  pass  through 
a  part  of  the  great  Kalahari  desert,  and  here  he  met 
with  Sekomi,  a  chief  of  the  Bamangwato,  from  whom 
also  he  received  a  most  friendly  reception.  The  ignor- 
ance of  this  tribe  he  found  to  be  exceedingly  great : — 

"Their  conceptions  of  the  Deity  are  of  the  most  vague  and  con- 
tradictory nature,  and  the  name  of  God  conveys  no  more  to  their 
understanding  than  the  idea  of  superiority.  Hence  they  do  not 
hesitate  to  apply  the  name  to  their  chiefs.  I  was  every  day  shocked 
by  being  addressed  by  that  title,  and  though  it  as  often  furnished  me 
M'ith  a  text  from  which  to  tell  them  of  the  only  true  God  and  Jesus 
Christ  whom  he  has  sent,  yet  it  deeply  pained  me,  and  I  never  felfc 
so  fully  convinced  of  the  lamentable  deterioration  of  our  species.  It 
is  indeed  a  mournful  truth  that  man  has  become  like  the  beasts  that 
perish." 

The  place  was  greatly  infested  by  lions,  and  during 
Livingstone's  visit  an  awful  occurrence  took  place  that 
made  a  great  impression  on  him  : — 

"A  woman  was  actually  devoured  in  her  garden  during  my  visit, 
and  that  so  near  the  town  that  I  had  frequently  walked  past  it.  It 
was  most  affecting  to  hear  the  cries  of  the  orphan  children  of  this 
woman.  During  the  whole  day  after  her  death  the  surrounding  rocks 
and  valleys  rang  and  re-echoed  with  their  bitter  cries.  I  frequently 
thought  as  I  listened  to  the  loud  sobs,  painfully  indicative  of  the 
sorrows  of  those  who  have  no  hope,  that  if  some  of  our  churches  could 
have  heard  their  sad  wailings,  it  would  have  awakened  the  firm  resolu- 
tion to  do  more  for  the  heathen  than  they  have  done." 

Poor  Sekomi  advanced  a  new  theory  of  regeneration 
which  Livingstone  was  unable  to  work  out : — 

"  Oir  one  occasion  Sekomi,  having  sat  by  me  in  the  hut  for  some 
time  in  deep  thought,  at  length  addressing  me  by  a  pompous  title  said, 
'  I  wish  you  would  change  my  heart.  Give  me  medicine  to  change  it,  for 
it  is  proud,  proud  and  angry,  angry  always.'  I  lifted  up  the  Testament 
and  was  about  to  tell  him  of  the  only  Avay  in  which  the  heart  can  be 
changed,  but  he  interrupted  me  by  saying,  'Nay,  I  wish  to  have  it 


48  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  iii. 

changed  by  medicine,  to  drink  and  have  it  changed  at  once,  for  it  is 
always  very  proud  and  very  uneasy,  and  continually  angry  with  some 
one.'     He  then  rose  and  went  away." 

A  third  tribe  visited  at  this  time  was  the  Bakaa,  and 
here,  too,  Livingstone  was  able  to  put  in  force  his  w^onder- 
ful  powers  of  management.  Shortly  before,  the  Bakaa  had 
murdered  a  trader  and  his  company.  When  Livingstone 
appeared  their  consciences  smote  them,  and,  with  the 
exception  of  the  chief  and  two  attendants,  the  whole  of 
the  people  fled  from  his  presence.  Nothing  could  allay 
their  terror,  till,  a  dish  of  porridge  having  been  prepared, 
they  saw  Livingstone  partake  of  it  along  with  themselves 
without  distrust.  When  they  saw  him  lie  down  and  fall 
asleep  they  were  quite  at  their  ease.  Thereafter  he  began 
to  speak  to  them  : — 

"  I  had  more  than  ordinary  pleasure  in  telling  these  murderers  of 
the  precious  blood  w'hich  cleanseth  from  all  sin.  I  bless  God  that  He 
has  conferred  on  one  so  worthless  the  distinguished  privilege  and 
honour  of  being  the  first  messenger  of  mercy  that  ever  trod  these 
regions.  Its  being  also  the  first  occasion  on  which  I  had  ventured  to 
address  a  number  of  Bechuanas  in  their  own  tongue  without  reading 
it,  renders  it  to  myself  one  of  peculiar  interest.  I  felt  more  freedom 
than  I  had  anticipated,  but  I  have  an  immense  amount  of  labour  still 
before  me,  ere  I  can  call  myself  a  master  of  Sichuana.  This  journey 
discloses  to  me  that  when  I  have  acquired  the  Batlapi,  there  is  an- 
other and  perhaps  more  arduous  task  to  be  accomplished  in  the  other 
dialects,  but  by  the  Divine  assistance  I  hope  I  shall  be  enabled  to 
conquer.  When  I  left  the  Bakaa,  the  chief  sent  his  son  with  a 
number  of  his  people  to  see  me  safe  part  of  the  way  to  the 
Makalaka." 

On  his  way  home,  in  passing  through  Bubi's  country, 
he  was  visited  by  sixteen  of  the  people  of  Sebehwe,  a 
chief  who  had  successfully  withstood  Mosilikatse,  but 
whose  cowardly  neighbours,  under  the  influence  of  jealousy, 
had  banded  together  to  deprive  him  of  wiiat  they  had 
not  had  the  courage  to  defend.  Consequently  he  had 
been  driven  into  the  sandy  desert,  and  his  object  in 
sending  to  Livingstone  was  to  solicit  his  advice  and  pro- 
tection, as  he  wished   to   come   out,   in  order   that  his 


1841-43-]  FIRST  TWO   YEARS  IN  AFRICA.  49 

people  might  grow  corn,  etc.  Sebehwe,  like  many  of  the 
other  people  of  the  country,  had  the  notion  that  if  he 
got  a  single  white  man  to  live  with  him,  he  would  be 
quite  secure.  It  was  no  wonder  that  Livingstone  early 
acquired  the  strong  conviction  that  if  missions  could 
only  be  scattered  over  Africa,  their  immediate  effect  in 
promoting  the  tranquillity  of  the  continent  could  hardly 
be  over-estimated. 

We  have  given  these  details  somewhat  fully,  because 
they  show  that  before  he  had  been  a  year  in  the  country 
Livingstone  had  learned  how  to  rule  the  Africans.     From 

o 

the  very  first,  his  genial  address,  simple  and  fearless 
manner,  and  transparent  kindliness  formed  a  spell  which 
rarely  failed.  He  had  great  faith  in  the  power  of  humour. 
He  was  never  afraid  of  a  man  who  had  a  hearty  laugh. 
By  a  playful  way  of  dealing  with  the  people,  he  made 
them  feel  at  ease  with  him,  and  afterwards  he  could  be 
solemn  enough  when  the  occasion  required.  His  medical 
knowledge  helped  him  greatly  ;  but  for  permanent  in- 
fluence all  would  have  been  in  vain  if  he  had  not  uniformly 
observed  the  rules  of  justice,  good  feeling,  and  good 
manners.  Often  he  would  say  that  the  true  road  to 
influence  was  patient  continuance  in  well-doing.  It  is 
remarkable  that,  from  the  very  first,  he  should  have  seen 
the  charm  of  that  method  which  he  employed  so  success- 
fully to  the  end. 

In  the  course  of  this  journey,  Livingstone  was  within 
ten  days  of  Lake  'Ngami,  the  lake  of  which  he  had  heard 
at  the  Cape,  and  which  he  actually  discovered  in  1849; 
and  he  might  have  discovered  it  now,  had  discovery 
alone  been  his  object.  Part  of  his  journey  was  performed 
on  foot,  in  consequence  of  the  draught  oxen  having  be- 
come sick  : — 

"  Some  of  my  companions,"  he  says  in  his  first  book,  "  who  had 
recently  joined  us,  and  did  not  know  tliat  I  understood  a  little  of  their 
sjDeech,  Avere  overheard  by  me  discussing  my  appearance  and  powers  : 

D 


50  DA  VI D  LIVING STOXE.  [chap.  hi. 

'  He  is  not  strong,  he  is  quite  slim,  and  only  appears  stout  because  he 
puts  himself  into  those  bags  (trousers) ;  he  will  soon  knock  up.'  This 
caused  my  Highland  blood  to  rise,  and  made  me  despise  the  fatigue  of 
keeping  them  all  at  the  top  of  their  speed  for  days  together,  and 
until  I  heard  them  expressing  proper  opinions  of  my  pedestrian 
powers." 

We  have  seen  how  full  Livingstone's  heart  was  of  the 
missionary  spirit ;  how  intent  he  was  on  making  friends 
of  the  natives,  and  how  he  could  already  preach  in  one 
dialect,  and  was  learning  another.  But  the  activity  of 
his  mind  enabled  him  to  give  attention  at  the  same  time 
to  other  matters.  He  was  ah^eady  pondering  the  structure 
of  the  great  African  Continent,  and  carefully  investigating 
the  process  of  desiccation  that  had  been  going  on  for  a 
long  time  and  had  left  much  uncomfortable  evidence  of 
its  activity  in  many  parts.  In  the  desert,  he  informs 
his  friend  Watt  that  no  fewer  than  thirty-two  edible 
roots  and  forty-three  fruits  grew  without  cultivation. 
He  had  the  rare  faculty  of  directing  his  mind  at  the  full 
stretch  of  its  power  to  one  great  object,  and  yet, 
apparently  without  effort,  giving  minute  and  most  care- 
ful attention  to  many  other  matters, — all  bearing,  how- 
ever, on  the  same  great  end. 

A  very  interesting  letter  to  Dr.  Risdon  Bennett,  dated 
Kuruman,  18th  Dec.  1841,  gives  an  account  of  his  first 
year's  work  from  the  medical  and  scientific  point  of  view. 
First,  he  gives  an  amusing  picture  of  the  Bechuana 
chiefs,  and  then  some  details  of  his  medical  practice  : — 

"  The  people  are  all  under  the  feudal  system  of  government,  the 
chieftainship  is  hereditary,  and  although  the  chief  is  usually  the 
gi'eatest  ass,  and  the  most  insignificant  of  the  tribe  in  appearance,  the 
people  pay  a  deference  to  him  Avhich  is  truly  astonishing.  ...  I 
feel  the  benefit  often  of  your  instructions,  and  of  those  I  got  through 
your  kindness.  Here  I  have  an  immense  practice.  I  have  patients 
now  under  treatment  who  have  walked  130  miles  for  my  advice  ;  and 
when  these  go  home,  others  will  come  for  the  same  purpose.  This  is 
the  country  for  a  medical  man  if  he  wants  a  large  practice,  but  he 
nuist  leave  fees  out  of  the  question  !  The  Bechuanas  have  a  great  deal 
more  disease  than  I  expected  to  find  amongst  a  savage  nation ;  but 


IS4I-43-]  I JRST  TWO   YEARS  IN  AFRICA.  51 

little  else  can  be  expected,  for  they  are  nearly  naked,  and  endure  the 
scorching  heat  of  the  day  and  the  chills  of  the  night  in  that  condition. 
Add    to    this    that    they    are    absolutely    omnivorous.        Indigestion, 

rheumatism,  ophthalmia  are  the  prevailing  diseases ]\Iany  very 

bad  cases  were  brought  to  me,  and  sometimes,  Avhen  travelling,  my 
wagon  was  quite  besieged  by  their  blind,  and  halt,  and  lame.  What 
a  mighty  effect  Avould  be  produced  if  one  of  the  seventy  disciples  were 
amongst  them  to  heal  them  all  by  a  word !  The  Bechuanas  resort  to 
the  Bushmen  and  the  jioor  people  that  live  in  the  desert,  for  doctors. 
The  fact  of  my  dealing  in  that  line  a  little  is  so  strange,  and  now  my 
fame  has  spread  far  and  wide.  But  if  one  of  Christ's  apostles  were 
here,  I  should  think  he  would  be  very  soon  known  all  over  the  con- 
tinent to  Abyssinia.  The  great  deal  of  work  I  have  had  to  do  in 
attending  to  the  sick  has  proved  beneficial  to  me,  for  they  make  me 
speak  the  language  perpetually,  and  if  I  were  inclined  to  be  lazy  in 
learning  it,  they  would  prevent  me  indulging  the  jjropensity.  And 
they  are  excellent  patients  too  besides.  There  is  no  wincing  ;  every- 
thing prescribed  is  done  instanicr.  Their  only  failing  is  that  they 
become  tired  of  a  long  course.  But  in  any  ojjeration,  even  the  women 
sit  mimoved.  I  have  been  cjuite  astonished  again  and  again  at  their 
calmness.  In  cutting  out  a  tumour,  an  inch  in  diameter,  they  sit  and 
talk  as  if  they  felt  nothing.  *  A  man  like  me  never  cries,'  they  say, 
'  they  are  children  that  cry.'  And  it  is  a  fact  that  the  men  never  cry. 
But  when  the  Spirit  of  God  works  on  their  minds  they  cry  most 
pitcousiy.  Sometimes  in  church  they  endeavour  to  screen  themselves 
from  the  eyes  of  the  preacher  by  hiding  under  the  forms  or  covering 
their  heads  with  their  karosses  as  a  remedy  against  their  convictions. 
And  when  they  find  that  won't  do,  they  rush  out  of  the  church  and 
run  with  all  their  might,  crying  as  if  the  hand  of  death  were  behind 
them.  One  would  think,  when  they  got  away,  there  they  would  remain  ; 
but  no,  there  thej'  are  in  their  places  at  the  very  next  meeting.  It  is 
not  to  be  wondered  at  that  tlicy  should  exhibit  agitations  of  body 
when  the  mind  is  affected,  as  they  are  quite  unaccustomed  to  restrain 
their  feelings.  But  that  the  hardened  beings  should  be  moved 
mentally  at  all  is  wonderful  indeed.  If  you  saw  them  in  their  savage 
state  you  would  feel  the  force  of  this  more.  .  .  .  N.B. — I  have  got  for 
Professor  Owen  specimens  of  the  incubated  ostrich  in  abundance,  and 
am  waiting  for  an  opportunity  to  transmit  the  box  to  the  College.  I 
tried  to  keep  for  you  some  of  the  fine  birds  of  the  interior,  but  the 
weather  was  so  horribly  hot  they  were  putrid  in  a  few  hours." 

When  he  returned  to  Kuruman  m  June  1842,  he 
found  that  no  instructions  had  as  yet  come  from  the 
Directors  as  to  his  permanent  quarters.  He  was  preparing 
for  another  journey  when  news  arrived  that,  contrary  to 
his  advice,  Sebehwe  had  left  the    desert   where  he  was 


52  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  iii. 

encamped,  had  been  treacherously  attacked  by  the  chief 
Mahura,  and  that  many  of  his  peojile,  inchiding  women 
and  children,  had  been  savagely  murdered.  What  aggra- 
vated the  case  was  that  several  native  Christians  from 
Kuruman  had  been  at  the  time  with  Sebehwe,  and  that 
these  were  accused  of  having  acted  treacherously  by  him. 
But  now  no  native  would  exjjjose  himself  to  the  expected 
raofe  of  Sebehwe,  so  that  for  want  of  attendants  Livinof- 
stone  could  not  go  to  him.  He  was  obliged  to  remain 
for  some  months  about  Kuruman,  itinerating  to  the 
neighbourmg  tribes,  and  taking  part  in  the  routine  Avork 
of  the  station  :  that  is  to  say  preaching,  printing,  building 
a  chajDel  at  an  out-station,  prescribing  for  the  sick,  and 
many  things  else  that  would  have  been  intolerable,  he 
said,  to  a  man  of  "  clerical  dignity." 

He  was  able  to  give  his  father  a  very  encouraging 
report  of  the  mission  work  (July  13,  1842)  : — "The  work 
of  God  goes  on  here  notwithstanding  all  our  infirmities. 
Souls  are  gathered  in  continually,  and  sometimes  from 
among  those  you  would  never  have  expected  to  see 
turning  to  the  Lord.  Twenty-four  were  added  to  the 
Church  last  month,  and  there  are  several  inquirers.  At 
Motito,  a  French  station  about  thirty-three  miles  north- 
east of  this,  there  has  been  an  awakening,  and  I  hope 
much  good  will  result.  I  have  good  news  too  from  Kio 
de  Janeiro.  The  Bibles  that  have  been  distributed  are 
beginning  to  cause  a  stir." 

The  state  of  the  country  continued  so  disturbed  that 
it  was  not  till  February  1843  that  he  was  able  to  set  out 
for  the  village  where  Sebehwe  had  taken  up  his  residence 
with  the  remains  of  his  tribe.  This  visit  he  undertook  at 
great  personal  risk.  Though  looking  at  first  very  ill- 
pleased,  Sebehwe  treated  him  in  a  short  time  in  a  most 
friendly  way,  and  on  the  Sunday  after  his  arrival,  sent  a 
herald  to  proclaim  that  on  that  day  nothing  should  be 
done  but  pray  to  God  and   listen  to  the  words  of  the 


IS4I-43-]  FIRST  TWO   YEARS  IN  AFRICA.  53 

foreigner.  He  himself  listened  with  great  attention  while 
Livingstone  told  him  of  Jesus  and  the  resmTection,  and 
the  missionary  was  often  interrupted  by  the  questions  of 
the  chief.  Here  then  was  another  chief  pacified,  and 
brought  under  the  preaching  of  the  gospel. 

Livingstone  then  passed  on  to  the  country  of  the 
Bakhatla,  where  he  had  purposed  to  erect  his  mission- 
station.  The  country  was  fertile,  and  the  people  indus- 
trious, and  among  other  industries  was  an  iron  manu- 
factoiy,  to  which  as  a  bachelor  he  got  admission,  whereas 
married  men  were  wont  to  be  excluded,  through  fear  that 
they  would  bewitch  the  iron  !  When  he  asked  the  chief 
if  he  would  like  him  to  come  and  be  his  missionary,  he 
held  up  his  hands  and  said,  "  Oh,  I  shall  dance  if  you 
do  ;  I  shall  collect  all  my  people  to  hoe  for  you  a  garden, 
and  you  will  get  more  sweet  reed  and  corn  than  myself." 
The  cautious  Directors  at  home,  however,  had  sent  no 
instructions  as  to  Livingstone's  station,  and  he  could 
only  say  to  the  chief  that  he  would  tell  them  of  his 
desire  for  a  missionary. 

At  a  distance  of  five  dt^ys'  journey  beyond  the  Ba- 
khatla was  situated  the  village  of  Sechele,  chief  of  the 
Bakwains,  afterwards  one  of  Livingstone's  greatest  friends. 
Sech(^le  had  been  enraged  at  him  for  not  visiting  him 
the  year  before,  and  threatened  him  with  mischief.  It 
happened  that  his  only  child  was  ill  when  the  missionary 
arrived,  and  also  the  child  of  one  of  his  j^rincipal  men. 
Livino-stone's  treatment  of  both  was  successful,  and 
Sechele  had  not  an  angry  word.  Some  of  his  questions 
struck  the  heart  of  the  missionary  : — 

"  '  Since  it  is  true  that  all  who  die  unforgiven  are  lost  for  ever, 
Avhy  did  your  nation  not  come  to  tell  us  of  it  before  now  ?  My 
ancestors  are  all  gone,  and  none  of  them  knew  anything  of  what  you 
tell  me.  How  is  this  V  I  thought  immediately,"  says  Livingstone, 
"  of  the  guilt  of  the  Church,  but  did  not  confess.  I  told  him  multi- 
tudes in  our  own  country  Avere  like  himself,  so  much  in  love  with 
their  sins.     My  ancestors  hadgpent  a  great  deal  of  time  in  trying  to 


54  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  iii. 

])crsuade  tlicm,  and  yet  after  all  many  of  tlieni  by  refusing  were  lost. 
We  now  wish  to  tell  all  the  world  about  a  Saviour,  and  if  men  did 
not  believe,  the  guilt  would  be  entirely  theirs.  Sechele  has  been 
driven  to  another  part  of  his  country  from  that  in  which  he  was 
located  last  year,  and  so  has  Bubi,  so  that  the  prospects  I  had  of 
benefiting  them  by  native  teachers  are  for  the  present  darkened." 

Among  otlier  things  that  Livingstone  found  time  for 
in  these  wanderings  among  strange  people  was  trans- 
lating hymns  into  the  Sichuana  language.  Writing  to  his 
father  (Bakwain  Country,  21st  March  1843),  he  says  : — 

"  Janet  may  be  pleased  to  learn  that  I  am  become  a  poet,  or 
rather  a  poetaster,  in  Sichuana.  Half-a-dozen  of  my  hymns  were 
/  lately  printed  in  a  collection  of  the  French  brethren.  One  of  them  is 
a  translation  of  'There  is  a  fountain  filled  with  blood;'  another, 
'  Jesus  shall  reign  where'er  the  sun ;'  others  are  on  '  The  earth  being- 
filled  with  the  glory  of  the  Lord,'  '  Self-dedication,'  '  Invitation  to 
Sinners,'  '  The  soul  that  loves  God  finds  him  everywhere.'  Janet  may 
try  to  make  English  ones  on  these  latter  subjects  if  she  can,  and 
Agnes  will  doubtless  set  them  to  music  on  the  same  condition.  I  do 
not  boast  of  having  done  this,  but  only  mention  it  to  let  you  know 
that  I  am  getting  a  little  better  fitted  for  the  great  work  of  a  mis- 
sionary, that  your  hearts  may  be  drawn  out  to  more  prayer  for  the 
success  of  the  gospel  proclaimed  by  my  feeble  lips." 

Livingstone  was  bent  on  advancing  in  the  direction  of 
the  country  of  the  Matebele  and  their  chief  Mosilikatse, 
but  the  dread  of  that  terrible  warrior  prevented  him  from 
getting  Bakwains  to  accompany  him,  and  being  thus 
unable  to  tVx  out  a  wafron,  he  was  oblio'ed  to  travel  on 
oxl)ack.  In  a  letter  to  Dr.  Ptisdon  Bennett  (30th  June 
1843),  he  gives  a  lively  description  of  this  mode  of  travel- 
ling : — "It  is  rough  travelling,  as  you  can  conceive.  The 
skin  is  so  loose  there  is  no  getting  one's  great-coat,  which 
has  to  serve  both  as  saddle  and  blanket,  to  stick  on  ;  and 
then  the  long  horns  in  front,  with  which  he  can  give 
one  a  punch  in  the  abdomen  if  he  likes,  make  us  sit  as 
bolt  upright  as  dragoons.  In  this  manner  I  travelled 
more  than  400  miles."  Visits  to  some  of  the  villaofes 
of  the  Bakalahari  gave  him  much  pleasure,  He  was 
listened  to  with  great  attention,  and  while  sitting  by 


I84I-43-]  FJRST  2U'0   YEARS  IN  AFRICA.  55 

their  fires  and  listening  to  their  traditionary  tales,  he 
intermingled  the  story  of  the  Cross  with  their  conversa- 
tion, and  it  was  by  far  the  happiest  portion  of  his  journey. 
The  peojole  were  a  poor,  degraded,  enslaved  race,  who 
hunted  for  other  tribes  to  procure  them  skins  ;  they 
were  far  from  wells,  and  had  their  gardens  far  from  their 
houses,  in  order  to  have  their  produce  safe  from  the 
chiefs  who  visited  them. 

Coming  on  to  .his  old  friends  the  Bakaa,  he  found 
them  out  of  humour  with  him,  accusing  him  of  having 
given  poison  to  a  native  who  had  been  seized  with  fever 
on  occasion  of  his  former  visit.  Consequently  he  could 
get  little  or  nothing  to  eat,  and  had  to  content  himself, 
as  he  wrote  to  his  friends,  with  the  sumptuous  feasts  of 
his  imasfination.  With  his  usual  habit  of  discoverino- 
good  in  aU  his  troubles,  however,  he  found  cause  for 
thankfulness  at  their  stinginess,  for  in  coming  down  a 
steep  pass,  absorbed  with  the  questions  which  the  people 
were  putting  to  him,  he  forgot  where  he  was,  lost  his 
footing,  and  striking  his  hand  between  a  rock  and  his 
Bible  which  he  was  carrying,  he  suffered  a  compound 
fracture  of  his  finger.  His  involuntary  low  diet  saved 
him  from  takino-  fever,  and  the  finfjer  was  healino-  favour- 
ably,  when  a  sudden  visit  in  the  middle  of  the  night  from 
a  lion,  that  threw  them  all  into  consternation,  made  him, 
without  thinkincj,  discharo-e  his  revolver  at  the  visitor, 
and  the  recoil  hurt  him  more  than  the  shot  did  the  lion. 
It  rebroke  his  finger,  and  the  second  fracture  was  worse 
than  the  first.  "  The  Bakwains,"'  he  says,  "  who  were 
most  attentive  to  my  wants  during  the  whole  journey  of 
more  than  400  miles,  tried  to  comfort  me  when  they  saw 
the  blood  again  flowing  by  saying,  '  You  have  hurt  your- 
self, but  you  have  redeemed  us  :  henceforth  we  will  only 
swear  by  you.'  Poor  creatures,"  he  writes  to  Dr.  Bennett, 
"  I  wished  they  had  felt  gratitude  for  the  blood  that  was 
shed  for  their  precious  souls." 


56  DAVW  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  in. 

Returning  to  Kuruman  from  this  journey,  in  June 
1843,  Livino^stone  was  deliorhted  to  find  at  leno^th  a 
letter  from  the  Directors  of  the  Society  authorising  the 
formation  of  a  settlement  in  the  regions  beyond.  He 
found  another  letter  that  greatly  cheered  him,  from  a 
Mrs.  M 'Robert,  the  wife  of  an  Independent  minister  at 
Cambuslang  (near  Blantyre),  who  had  collected  and  now 
sent  him  £12  for  a  native  agent,  and  w^as  willing, 
on  the  part  of  some  young  friends^  to  send  presents 
of  clothino'  for  the  converts.  In  acknowledgfinof  this 
letter,  Livingstone  poured  out  his  very  heart,  so  full 
was  he  of  gratitude  and  deUght.  He  entreated  the 
givers  to  consider  Mebalwe  as  their  own  agent,  and 
to  concentrate  their  prayers  upon  him,  for  prayer,  he 
thought,  was  always  more  efficacious  when  it  could  be 
said,  "  One  thing  have  I  desired  of  the  Lord."  As  to 
the  present  of  clothing,  he  simply  entreated  his  friends 
to  send  nothino-  of  the  kind;   such  thino^s  demoralised 

O  '  ci 

the  recipients  and  bred  endless  jealousies.  If  he  w^ere 
alloM'ed  to  charge  something  for  the  clothes,  he  would  be 
pleased  to  have  them,  but  on  no  other  terms. 

Writing  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Society,  Rev.  A. 
Tidman  (24th  June  1843),  and  referring  to  the  past  success 
of  the  Mission  in  tha*|lfc.rer  localities,  he  says  : — "If  you 
could  realise  this  fact^as  fully  as  those  on  the  spot  can,  , 
you  would  be  able  to  enter  into  the  feelings  of  irrepressible 
delight  with  w^hich  I  hail  the  decision  of  the  Directors 
that  we  go  forward  to  the  dark  interior.  May  the  Lord 
enable  me  to  consecrate  my  whole  being  to  the  glorious 
Avork  ! " 

In  this  communication  to  the  Directors  Livino-stone 
modestly,  but  frankly  and  firmly,  gives  them  his  mind  on 
some  points  touched  on  in  their  letter  to  him.  In  reo-ard 
to  his  favourite  measure — native  agency — he  is  glad 
that  a  friend  has  remitted  money  for  the  employment  of 
one  agent,  and  that  others  have  promised  the  means  of 


IS4I-43-]  FIRST  TWO   YEARS  IN  AFRICA.  57 

employing  other  two.  On  another  subject  he  had  a 
communication  to  make  to  them  which  evidently  cost 
hmi  no  ordinary  effort.  In  his  more  private  letters 
to  his  friends,  from  an  early  period  after  entering  Africa, 
he  had  expressed  himself  very  freely,  almost  con- 
temptuously, on  the  distribution  of  the  labourers.  There 
was  far  too  much  clustering  about  the  Cape  Colony,  and 
the  district  immediately  beyond  it,  and  a  woeful  slow- 
ness to  strike  out,  with  the  fearless  chivalry  that  became 
missionaries  of  the  Cross,  and  take  possession  of  the  vast 
continent  beyond.  All  his  letters  reveal  the  chafing  of 
his  spirit  with  this  confinement  of  evangelistic  energy 
in  the  face  of  so  vast  a  field, — this  huddling  together 
of  labourers  in  sparsely  peopled  districts,  instead  of 
sending  them  forth  over  the  whole  of  Africa,  India,  and 
China,  to  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature.  He  felt 
deeply  that  both  the  Church  at  home,  and  many  of 
the  missionaries  on  the  spot,  had  a  poor  conception  of 
missionary  duty,  out  of  which  came  little  faith,  little/ 
effort,  little  expectation,  with  a  miserable  tendency  to 
exaggerate  their  own  evils  and  grievances,  and  fall  into 
paltry  squabbles  which  would  not  have  been  possible  if 
they  had  been  fired  with  the  ambition  to  win  the  world 
for  Christ. 

But  what  it  was  a  positive  relief  for  him  to  whisper 
in  the  ear  of  an  intimate  friend,  it  demanded  the  courage 
of  a  hero  to  proclaim  to  the  Directors  of  a  great  Society. 
It  was  like  impugning  their  whole  policy  and  arraigning 
their  wisdom.  But  Livingstone  could  not  say  one  thing 
in  private  and  another  in  public.  Frankly  and  fearlessly 
he  proclaimed  his  views  : — 

"  The  conviction  to  which  I  refer  is  that  a  much  larger  share  of 
the  benevolence  of  the  Church  and  of  missionary  exertion  is  directed 
into  this  country  than  the  amount  of  population,  as  compared  with 
other  countries,  and  the  success  attending  those  efforts,  seem  to  call  for. 
This  conviction  has  been  forced  upon  me,  both  by  a  personal  inspection, 
more  extensive  than  that  which  has  fallen  to  the  lot  of  any  other, 


SS  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  [chap  iii. 

oitlier  missionary  or  trader,  and  by  the  sentiments  of  other  mission- 
aries Avho  have  investigated  the  subject  according  to  their  opportunities. 
In  reference  to  the  population,  I  may  mention  that  I  was  led  in 
England  to  believe  that  the  population  of  the  interior  was  dense,  and 
now  since  I  have  come  to  this  country  I  have  conversed  Avith  many, 
both  of  our  Society  and  of  the  French,  and  none  of  them  would  reckon 
up  the  number  of  30,000  Bechuanas." 

He  then  proceeds  to  details  in  a  most  characteristic 
way,  giving  the  number  of  huts  in  every  vilkige,  and 
being  careful  in  every  case,  as  his  argument  proceeded  on 
there  being  a  small  population,  rather  to  overstate  than 
understate  the  number  : — 

"In  view  of  these  facts  and  the  confirmation  of  them  I  have 
received  from  both  French  and  English  brethren,  computing  the 
population  much  below  what  I  have  stated,  I  confess  I  feel  grieved  to 
hear  of  the  arrival  of  new  missionaries.  Nor  am  I  the  only  one  who 
deplores  their  appointment  to  this  country.  Again  and  again  have  I 
l)een  pained  at  heart  to  hear  the  question  put, — Where  will  these  new 
brethren  find  fields  of  labour  in  this  country  %  Because  I  know  that 
in  India  or  China  there  are  fields  large  enough  for  all  their  energies. 
I  am. very  fiir  from  undervaluing  the  success  which  has  attended  the 
labours  of  missionaries  in  this  land.  No !  I  gratefully  acknowledge 
the  wonders  God  hath  wrought,  and  I  feel  that  the  salvation  of  one 
soul  is  of  more  value  than  all  the  effort  that  has  been  expended ;  but 
Ave  are  to  seek  the  field  where  there  is  a  possibility  that  most  souls 
will  be  converted,  and  it  is  this  consideration  Avhich  makes  me 
earnestly  call  the  attention  of  the  Directors  to  the  subject  of  statistics. 
If  these  Avere  actually  returned — and  there  Avould  be  very  little 
difficulty  in  doing  so — it  might,  perhaps,  be  found  that  there  is  not  a 
country  better  supplied  Avith  missionaries  in  the  Avorld,  and  that  iu 
proportion  to  the  number  of  agents  compared  to  the  amount  of  jjopula- 
tion,  the  success  may  be  inferior  to  most  other  countries  Avhere  efforts 
have  been  made." 

Finding  that  a  brother  missionary  was  willing  to 
accompany  him  to  the  station  he  had  fixed  on  among 
the  Bakhatlas,  and  enable  him  to  set  to  work  with  the 
necessary  arrangements,  Livingstone  set  out  with  him  in 
the  beginning  of  August  1843,  and  arrived  at  his  destina- 
tion after  a  fortnight's  journey.  Writing  to  his  family, 
"in  sight  of  the  hills  of  Bakhatla,"  August  21st,  1843, 
he  says :  "  We  are  in  company  with  a  party  of  three 


1 84 1 -43-]  FIRST  TWO   YEARS  IN  AFRICA.  59 

hunters  :  one  of  them  from  the  West  Indies,  and  two 
from  India — Mr.  Pringle  from  Tinnevelly,  and  Captain 
Steele  of  the  Coldstream  Guards,  aide-de-camp  to  the 
Governor  of  Madras.  .  .  .  The  Captain  is  the  politest  of 
the  whole,  well  versed  in  the  classics,  and  possessed  of 
much  general  knowledge."  Captain  Steele,  now  General 
Su'  Thomas  Steele,  proved  one  of  Livingstone's  best  and 
most  constant  friends.  In  one  respect  the  society  of 
gentlemen  who  came  to  hunt  would  not  have  been  sought 
by  Livingstone,  their  aims  and  pursuits  being  so  different 
from  his  ;  but  he  got  on  with  them  wonderfully.  In 
some  instances  these  strangers  were  thoroughly  sym- 
pathetic, but  not  in  all.  When  they  were  not  sympa- 
thetic on  religion,  he  had  a  strong  conviction  that  his 
first  duty  as  a  servant  of  Christ  was  to  commend  his  ^ 
religion  by  his  life  and  spirit — by  integrity,  civility, 
kindness,  and  constant  readiness  to  deny  himself  in 
obliging  others ;  having  thus  secured  their  esteem  and 
confidence,  he  Avould  take  such  quiet  opportunities  as 
presented  themselves  to  get  near  their  consciences  on  his 
Master's  behalf  He  took  care  that  there  should  be  no 
moving  about  on  the  day  of  rest,  and  that  the  outward 
demeanour  of  all  should  be  befitting-  a  Christian  com- 
2oany.  For  himself,  while  he  abhorred  the  indiscriminate 
slaughter  of  animals  for  mere  slaughter's  sake,  he  thought 
well  of  the  chase  as  a  means  of  developing  courage, 
promptness  of  action  in  time  of  danger,  protracted  en- 
durance of  hunger  and  thirst,  determination  in  the 
pursuit  of  an  object,  and  other  qualities  befitting  brave 
and  powerful  men.  The  respect  and  affection  with  which 
he  inspired  the  geiitlemen  who  were  thus  associated  with 
him  was  very  remarkable.  Doubtless,  with  his  quick 
apprehension,  he  learned  a  good  deal  from  their  society 
of  the  ways  and  feelings  of  a  class  with  whom  hitherto  he 
had  hardly  ever  been  in  contact.  The  large  resources 
with  which  they  were  furnished,  in  contrast  to  his  own, 


6o  DA  VID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  hi. 

excited  no  feeling  of  envy,  nor  even  a  desire  to  possess 
their  ample  means,  unless  lie  could  have  used  them  to 
extend  missionary  operations ;  and  the  gentlemen  them- 
selves would  sometimes  remark  that  the  missionaries 
were  more  comfortable  than  they.  Though  they  might 
at  times  spend  thousands  of  pounds  where  Livingstone 
did  not  spend  as  many  pence,  and  would  be  provided  with 
horses,  servants,  tents,  and  stores,  enough  to  secure  com- 
fort under  almost  any  conditions,  they  had  not  that  key 
to  the  native  heart  and  that  power  to  command  the 
willing  services  of  native  attendants  which  belonged  so 
remarkably  to  the  missionary.  "  When  we  arrive  at  a 
sj)ot  where  we  intend  to  spend  the  night,"  writes  Living- 
stone to  his  family,  "all  hands  immediately  unyoke  the 
oxen.  Then  one  or  two  of  the  company  collect  wood ; 
one  of  us  strikes  up  a  fire,  another  gets  out  the  water- 
bucket  and  fills  the  kettle ;  a  piece  of  meat  is  thrown  on 
the  fire,  and  if  we  have  biscuits,  we  are  at  our  coffee  in 
less  than  half  an  hour  after  arriving.  Our  friends, 
perhaps,  sit  or  stand  shivering  at  their  fire  for  two  or 
three  hours  before  they  get  their  things  ready,  and  are 
glad  occasionally  of  a  cap  of  coffee  from  us." 

The  first  act  of  the  missionaries  on  arriving  at  their 
destination  was  to  have  an  interview  with  the  chief,  and 
ask  whether  he  desired  a  missionary.  Having  an  eye  to  the 
beads,  guns,  and  other  things,  of  which  white  men  seemed 
always  to  have  an  ample  store,  the  chief  and  his  men 
gave  them  a  cordial  welcome,  and  Livingstone  next  pro- 
ceeded to  make  a  purchase  of  land.  This,  like  Abraham 
with  the  sons  of  Heth,  he  insisted  should  be  done  in 
legal  form,  and  for  this  purpose  he  drew  up  a  written 
contract  to  which,  after  it  was  fully  explained  to  them, 
both  parties  attached  their  signatures  or  marks.  They 
then  proceeded  to  the  erection  of  a  hut  fifty  feet  by 
eighteen,  not  getting  much  help  from  the  Bakhatlas,  who 
devolved  such  labours  on  the  women,  but  being  greatly 


I84I-43-]  FIRST  TWO   YEARS  IN  AFRICA.  6i 

lielj)ed  by  the  native  deacon,  Mebalwe.     All  this  Living- 
stone   and  his    companion    had  done    on   their  own  re- 
sponsibility, and  in   the   hope  that  the  Directors  would 
approve  of  it.     But   if  they  did  not,  he  told  them  that     ^ 
he  was  at  their  disposal  "  to  go  anywhere — jyvovided  it  \ 
he  roRW^ARD." 

The  progress  of  medical  and  scientific  work  during 
this  period  is  noted  in  a  letter  to  Dr.  Risdon  Bennett, 
dated  30th  June  1843.  In  addition  to  full  details 
of  the  missionary  work,  this  letter  enters  largely  into 
the  state  of  disease  in  South  Africa,  and  records  some 
interesting  cases,  medical  and  surgical.  Still  more  in- 
teresting, perhaps,  is  the  evidence  it  affords  of  the  place 
in  Livingstone's  attention  which  began  to  be  occupied 
by  three  great  subjects  of  which  w^e  shall  hear  much  / 
anon — Fever,  Tsetse,  and  "the  Lake.'  Fever  he  con- 
sidered the  greatest  barrier  to  the  evangelisation  of  Africa. 
Tsetse,  an  insect  like  a  common  fly,  destroyed  horses 
and  oxen,  so  that  many  traders  lost  literally  every 
ox  in  their  team.  As  for  the  Lake,  it  lay  somewhat 
beyond  the  outskirts  of  his  new  district,  and  was  reported 
terrible  for  fever.  He  heard  that  Mr.  Moffat  intended  to 
visit  it,  but  he  was  somewhat  alarmed  lest  his  friend 
should  suffer.  It  was  not  Moffat  but  Livingstone,  how- 
ever, that  first  braved  the  risks  of  that  fever  swamp. 

A  subject  of  special  scientific  interest  to  the  mis-  i 
sionary  during  this  period  was — the  desiccation  of  Africa. 
On  this  topic  he  addressed  a  long  letter  to  Dr.  Buckland  in 
1843,  of  which,  considerably  to  his  regret,  no  public  notice 
appears  to  have  been  taken,  and  perhaps  the  letter  never 
reached  him.  The  substance  of  this  paper  may,  however, 
be  gathered  from  a  communication  subsequently  made  to 
the  Ptoyal  Geographical  Society^  after  his  first  impression 
had  been  confirmed  by  enlarged  observation  and  discovery. 
Around,   and  north  of   Kuruman,   he  had   found   many 

^  See  Joiirual,  vol.  xxvii.  p.  35G. 


62  DAVID  LIVINGSTOXE.  [chap.  iii. 

indications  of  a  mucli  larger  supply  of  water  in  a  former 
age.  He  ascribed  the  desiccation  to  the  gradual  eleva- 
tion of  the  western  part  of  the  country.  He  found  traces 
of  a  very  large  ancient  river  which  flowed  nearly  north 
and  south  to  a  large  lake,  including  the  bed  of  the  present 
Orange  River  ;  in  fact  he  believed  that  the  whole  country 
south  of  Lake  'Ngami  presented  in  ancient  times  very 
much  the  same  appearance  as  the  basin  north  of  that 
lake  does  now,  and  that  the  southern  lake  disappeared 
when  a  fissure  was  made  in  the  riclge  through  wdiich  the 
Orange  River  now  proceeds  to  the  sea.  He  could  even 
indicate  the  spot  where  the  river  and  the  lake  met,  for 
some  hills  there  had  caused  an  eddy  in  which  was  found 
a  mound  of  calcareous  tufa  and  travertine,  full  of  fossil 
bones.  These  fossils  he  was  most  eager  to  examine,  in 
order  to  determine  the  time  of  the  change  ;  but  on  his 
first  visit  he  had  no  time,  and  when  he  returned,  he  was 
suddenly  called  away  to  visit  a  missionary's  child,  a 
hundred  miles  ofi*.  It  happened  that  he  was  never  in  the 
same  locality  again,  and  had  therefore  no  opportunity  to 
complete  his  investigation. 

Dr.  Livingstone's  mind  had  that  wonderful  power 
which  belongs  to  some  men  of  the  highest  gifts,  of  pass- 
ing with  the  utmost  rapidity,  not  only  from  subject  to 
subject,  but  from  one  mood  or  key  to  another  entirely 
difierent.  In  a  letter  to  his  family,  written  about  this 
time,  we  have  a  characteristic  instance.  On  one  side  of 
the  sheet  is  a  prolonged  outburst  of  tender  Christian  love 
and  lamentation  over  a  young  attendant  who  had  died  of 
fever  suddenly ;  on  the  other  side,  he  gives  a  map  of  the 
Bakhatla  country  with  its  rivers  and  mountains,  and  is 
quite  at  home  in  the  geographical  details,  crowning  his 
description  Avith  some  sentimental  and  half-ludicrous 
lines  of  poetry.  No  reasonable  man  will  fancy  that  in 
the  wailings  of  his  heart  there  was  any  levity  or  want  of 
sincerity.     What  we  are   about  to   copy  merits   careful 


1841-43]  FIRST  TWO    YEARS  IN  AFRICA.  63 

consideration  :  first,  as  evincing  the  depth  and  tenderness 
of  his  love  for  these  black  savages  ;  next,  as  showing  that 
it  was  pre-eminently  Christian  love,  intensified  by  his  vivid 
view  of  the  eternal  world,  and  belief  in  Christ  as  the  only 
Saviour ;  and,  lastly,  as  revealing  the  secret  of  the  affec- 
tion which  these  poor  fellows  bore  to  him  in  return.  The 
intensity  of  the  scrutiny  wdiich  he  directs  on  his  heart, 
and  the  severity  of  the  j  udgment  w^hich  he  seems  to  pass 
on  himself,  as  if  he  had  not  done  all  he  might  have  done 
for  the  spiritual  good  of  this  young  man,  show  with  what 
mtense  conscientiousness  he  tried  to  discharge  his  mis- 
sionary duty : — 

"  Poor  Seliamy,  v.here  art  tliou  now  ?  "Where  lodges  tlij-  soul  to- 
night ■?  Didst  thou  think  of  Avhat  I  told  thee  as  thou  turnedst  from 
side  to  side  in  distress  %  I  could  now  do  anything  for  thee.  I  could 
weep  for  thy  souL  But  now  nothing  can  be  done.  Thy  fate  is  fixed. 
Oh,  am  I  guilty  of  the  blood  of  thy  soul,  my  poor  dear  Sehamy  ?  If 
so,  how  shall  I  look  upon  thee  in  the  judgment  %  But  I  told  thee  of 
a  Saviour  ;  didst  thou  think  of  Him,  and  did  He  lead  thee  through  the 
dark  valley  ?  Did  He  comfort  as  He  only  can?  Help  me,  0  Lord 
Jesus,  to  be  faithful  to  every  one.  Eemember  me,  and  let  me  not  be 
guilty  of  the  blood  of  souls.  This  poor  young  man  was  the  leader  of 
the  party.  He  governed  the  others,  and  most  attentive  he  was  to  me. 
He  anticipated  my  every  want.  He  kept  the  water-calabash  at  his 
head  at  night,  and  if  I  awoke,  he  was  ready  to  give  me  a  draught 
immediately.  When  the  meat  was  boiled  he  secured  the  best  portion 
for  me,  the  best  place  for  sleeping,  the  best  of  everything.  Oh,  where 
is  he  now  %  He  became  ill  after  leaving  a  certain  tribe,  and  believed 
he  had  been  poisoned.  Another  of  the  party  and  he  ate  of  a  certain 
dish  given  them  by  a  woman  whom  they  had  displeased,  and  havin"- 
met  this  man  yesterday  he  said,  '  Sehamy  is  gone  to  heaven,  and  I  am 
almost  dead  by  the  poison  given  usjlty  that  woman.'  I  don't  believe 
they  took  any  poison,  but  they  do,  and  their  imaginations  are  dread- 
fully excited  when  they  entertain  that  belief." 

The  same  letter  intimates  that  in  case  his  family 
should  have  arranged  to  emigrate  to  America,  as  he  had 
formerly  advised  them  to  do,  he  had  sent  home  a  bill  of 
which  £10  was  to  aid  the  emigration,  and  £10  to  be 
spent  on  clothes  for  himself.  In  regard  to  the  latter 
sum,  he  now  wished  them  to  add  it  to  the  other,  so  that 


64  BA  VID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  hi. 

his  help  might  be  more  substantial ;  and  for  himself  he 
would  make  his  old  clothes  serv^e  for  another  year.  The 
emigration  scheme,  which  he  thought  would  have  added 
to  the  comfort  of  his  parents  and  sisters,  was  not,  how- 
ever, carried  into  effect.  The  advice  to  his  family  to 
emigrate  proceeded  from  deep  convictions.  In  a  subse- 
quent letter  (4th  December  1850)  he  writes: — "If  I 
could  only  be  with  you  for  a  week,  you  would  soon  be 
pushing  on  in  the  world.  The  world  is  ours.  Our 
Father  made  it  to  be  mhabited,  and  many  shall  run  to 
and  fro,  and  knowledge  shall  be  increased.  It  will  he 
increased  more  hy  emigration  than  hi/  missio7ianes." 
He  held  it  to  be  God's  wish  that  the  unoccupied  parts 
of  the  earth  should  be  possessed,  and  he  believed  in 
Christian  colonisation  as  a  great  means  of  spreading  the 
gospel.  We  shall  see  afterwards  that  to  plant  English 
and  Scotch  colonies  in  Africa  became  one  of  his  master 
ideas  and  favomite  schemes. 


1 843-47-]  FJjRST  TWO  3TATI0.YS.  65 


CHAPTER  IV. 

FIRST  TWO  STATIONS — MABOTSA  AND  CHONUANE. 

A.D.  1843-1847. 

Descrijition  of  Mabotsa — A  favourite  hymn — General  reading — Mabotsa  infested 
with  lions — Livingstone's  encounter — The  native  deacon  who  saved  him — 
His  Sunday-school  —  Marriage  to  Mary  Moffat — Work  at  Mabotsa — Pro- 
posed institution  for  training  native  agents — Letter  to  his  mother — Trouble 
at  Mabotsa — Noble  sacrifice  of  Livingstone — Goes  to  Sechele  and  the 
Bakwains — New  station  at  Chonuane — Interest  shown  by  Secrhele — Journeys 
eastward — The  Boers  and  the  Transvaal — Their  occupation  of  the  country, 
and  treatment  of  the  natives — Work  among  the  Bakwains — Livingstone's 
desire  to  move  on — Theological  conflict  at  home — His  view  of  it — His  scientific 
labours  and  miscellaneous  employments. 

Describing  wliat  was  to  be  his  new  liome  to  liis  friend 
Watt  from  Kuruman,  27tli  September  1843,  Livingstone 
says  : — "  The  Bakliatla  have  cheerfully  offered  to  remove 
to  a  more  favourable  position  than  they  at  present  occupy. 
We  have  fixed  upon  a  most  delightful  valley,  which  we 
hope  to  make  the  centre  of  our  sjDhere  of  operations  in 
the  interior.  It  is  situated  in  what  poetical  gents  like 
you  would  call  almost  an  amphitheatre  of  mountains. 
The  mountain  range  immediately  in  the  rear  of  the  spot 
where  we  have  fixed  our  residence  is  called  Mabotsa,  or  a 
marriage-feast.  May  the  Lord  lift  upon  us  the .  light 
of  His  countenance,  so  that  by  our  feeble  instrument- 
ality many  may  thence  be  admitted  to  the  marriage-feast 
of  the  Lamb.  The  people  are  as  raw  as  may  well  be 
imagined  ;  they  have  not  the  least  desire  but  for  the 
things  of  the  earth,  and  it  must  be  a  long  time  ere  we 
can  gain  their  attention  to  the  things  which  are  above." 

E 


66 


DAVID  LIVINGSTONE. 


[chap.  IV. 


Something  led  him  in  his  letter  to  Mr.  Watt  to  talk 
of  the  old  monks,  and  the  spots  they  selected  for  their 
establishments.  He  goes  on  to  write  lovingly  of  what 
was  good  in  some  of  the  old  fathers  of  the  mediaeval 
Church,  despite  the  strong  feeling  of  many  to  the 
contrary ;  indicating  thus  early  the  working  of  that 
catholic  spirit  which  was  constantly  expanding  in  later 
years,  which  could  separate  the  good  in  any  man  from 
all  its  evil  surroundings,  and  think  of  it  thankfully  and 
admiringly.  In  the  following  extract  we  get  a  glimpse 
of  a  range  of  reading  much  wider  than  most  would 
probably  have  supposed  likely  : — 

*'  Who  can  read  the  sermons  of  St.  Bernard,  the  meditations  of  St. 
Augustine,  etc.,  without  saying,  whatever  otlier  faults  they  had  :  They 
thirsted,  and. now  they  are  filled.  That  hymn  of  St.  Bernard,  on  the 
name  of  Christ,  although  in  what  might  be  termed  dog-Latin,  pleases 
me  so  ;  it  rings  in  my  ears  as  I  Avander  across  the  wide,  wide  wilder- 
ness, and  makes  me  wish  I  was  more  like  them — 


"  Jesu,  dulcis  memoria, 
Dans  cordi  vera  gaudia  ; 
Sed  super  mel  et  omnia, 
Ejus  dulcis  praesentia. 

Nil  canitur  suavius, 
Nil  auditur  jucundius, 
Nil  cogitatur  dulcius, 
Quam  Jesus  Dei  filius. 


Jesu,  spes  poenitentibus, 
Quam  plus  es  petentibus  ! 
Quam  bonus  es  cpuerentibus  ! 
Sed  quid  invenientibus  ! 

Jesu,  dulcedo  cordium, 
Fons,  rivus,  lumen  mentiura, 
Excedens  omne  gaudium, 
Et  omne  desiderium." 


\/  Li  vino-stone  was  in  the  habit  of  fastening-  inside  the 
boards  of  his  journals,  or  writing  on  the  fly-leaf,  verses 
that  interested  him  specially.  In  one  of  these  volumes 
this  hymn  is  copied  at  full  length.  In  another  we  find 
a  very  yellow  newspaper  chpping  of  the  "  Song  of  the 
Shirt."  In  the  same  volume  a  clipping  containing  "  The 
Bridge  of  Sighs,"  beginning 

"  One  more  unfortunate, 
Weary  of  breath, 
Eashly  importunate, 
Gone  to  her  death." 


I843-47-]  FIRST  TWO  STATIONS.  67 

In  another  we  liave  Coleridge's .  lines  : — ■ 

"  He  prayetli  well  who  lovetli  well 
Both  man  and  bird  and  beast. 
He  prayeth  best  who  loveth  best 
All  things  both  great  and  small ; 
For  the  dear  God  Avho  loveth  us, 
He  made  and  loveth  all." 

In  another,  hardly  legible  on  the  marble  paper,  we  find, 

"  So  runs  my  dream  :  but  what  am  I  % 
An  infant  crying  in  the  night ; 
An  infant  crying  for  the  light : 
And  with  no  language  but  a  cry." 

All  Livingstone's  personal  friends  testify  that,  con- 
sidering the  state  of  banishment  in  which  he  lived,  his 
acquaintance  with  English  hterature  was  quite  remark- 
able. When  a  controversy  arose  in  America  as  to  the 
genuineness  of  his  letters  to  the  New  York  Herald,  the 
famiharity  of  the  writer  with  the  poems  of  Whittier  was 
made  an  argument  against  him.  But  Livingstone  knew 
a  great  part  of  the  poetry  of  Longfellow,  Whittier,  and 
others  by  heart. 

There  was  one  drawback  to  the  new  locality  :  it  was 
infested  with  lions.  All  the  world  knows  the  story  of 
the  encounter  at  Mabotsa,  which  was  so  near  endino- 
Livingstone's  career,  when  the  lion  seized  him  by  the 
shoulder,  tore  his  flesh,  and  crushed  his  bone.  Nothuig 
in  all  Livingstone's  history  took  more  hold  of  the  popular 
imagination,  or  was  more  frequently  inquired  about  when 
he  came  home.^  By  a  kind  of  miracle  his  life  was  saved, 
but  the  encounter  left  him  lame  for  lifs  of  the  arm  which 
the  lion  crunched.^      But  the  world  generally  does  not 

^  He  did  not  speak  of  it  spontaneously,  and  sometimes  he  gave  unexpected 
answers  to  questions  put  to  him  about  it.  To  one  person  who  asked  very 
earnestly  what  were  his  thoughts  when  the  lion  was  above  him,  he  answered,  ' '  I 
was  thinking  what  part  of  me  he  would  eat  first " — a  gi-otesque  thought,  which 
some  persons  considered  strange  in  so  good  a  man,  but  which  was  quite  in  accord- 
ance with  human  experience  in  similar  circumstances. 

-  The  false  joint  in  the  crushed  arm  was  the  mark  by  which  the  body  of 
Livingstone  was  identified  when  brought  home  by  his  followers  in  187-t. 


6S  DA  VID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  iv. 

know  that  Mebalwe,  tLe  native  who  was  with  him,  and 
who  saved  his  Hfe  by  diverting  the  Hon  when  his  paw  was 
on  his  head,  was  the  teacher  whom  Mrs.  M'Robert's 
twelve  pounds  had  enabled  him  to  employ.  Little  did 
the  good  woman  think  that  tliis  offering  would  indirectly 
be  the  means  of  preserving  the  life  of  Livingstone  for 
the  wonderful  work  of  the  next  thirty  years  1  When,  on 
being  attacked  by  Mebalwe,  the  lion  left  Livingstone,  and 
sprang  upon  him,  he  bit  his  thigh,  then  dashed  towards 
another  man,  and  caught  him  by  the  shoulder,  when  in  a 
moment,  the  previous  shots  taking  effect,  he  fell  down 
dead.  Sir  Bartle  Frere,  in  his  obituary  notice  of 
Livingstone  read  to  the  Royal  Geographical  Society, 
remarked  :  "  For  thirty  years  afterwards  all  his  labours 
and  adventures,  entailing  such  exertion  and  fatigue,  were 
undertaken  with  a  limb  so  maimed  that  it  was  painful  for 
him  to  raise  a  fowling-piece,  or  in  fact  to  place  the  left 
arm  in  any  position  above  the  level  of  the  shoulder." 

In  his  Missionary  Travels  Livingstone  says  that  but 
for  the  importunities  of  his  friends,  he  meant  to  have 
kept  this  story  in  store  to  tell  his  children  in  his  dotage. 
How  little  he  made  of  it  at  the  time  will  be  seen  from 
the  following  allusion  to  it  in  a  letter  to  his  father,  dated 
27th  April  1844.  After  telling  how  the  attacks  of  the 
lions  drew  the  people  of  Mabotsa  away  from  the  irrigating 
operations  he  was  engaged  in,  he  says  : — 

"  At  last,  one  of  the  lions  destroyed  nine  sheep  in  broad  daylight 
on  a  hill  just  opposite  our  house.  All  the  people  immediately  ran 
over  to  it,  and,  contrary  to  my  custom,  I  imprudently  went  with  them, 
in  order  to  see  how  they  acted,  and  encourage  them  to  destroy  him. 
They  surrounded  him  several  times,  but  he  managed  to  break  through 
the  circle.  I  then  got  tired.  In  coming  home  I  had  to  come  near  to 
the  end  of  the  hill.  They  were  then  close  upon  the  lion,  and  had 
wounded  him.  He  rushed  out  from  the  bushes  which  concealed  him 
from  view,  and  bit  me  on  the  arm  so  as  to  break  the  bone.  It  is  now 
nearly  well,  however,  feeling  Aveak  only  from  having  been  confined  in 
one  position  so  long  ;  and  I  ought  to  praise  Him  who  delivered  me 
from  so  great  a  danger.     I  hope  I  shall  never  forget  His  mercy.     You 


I843-47-]  FIRST  TWO  STATIONS.  69 

need  not  be  sorry  for  me,  for  long  before  this  reaches  you  it  will  bo 
quite  as  strong  as  ever  it  was.  Gratitude  is  the  only  feeling  Ave  ought 
to  have  in  remembering  the  event.  Do  not  mention  this  to  any  one.  I 
do  not  like  to  be  talked  about." 

In  a  letter  to  the  Directors,  Livingstoiie  briefly  adverts 
to  Mebalwe's  service  on  this  occasion,  but  makes  it  a  peg 
on  which  to  hang  some  strong  remarks  on  that  favourite 
topic — the  employment  of  native  agency  : — 

"  Our  native  assistant  Mebalvre  has  been  of  considerable  value  to 
the  Mission.  In  endeavouring  to  save  my  life  he  nearly  lost  his  own, 
for  he  was  caught  and  wounded  severely,  but  both  before  being  laid 
aside,  and  since  his  recovery,  he  has  shown  great  willingness  to  be 
useful.  The  cheerful  manner  in  which  he  engages  with  us  in  manual 
labour  in  the  station,  and  his  affectionate  addresses  to  his  country- 
men, are  truly  gratifying.  Mr.  E.  took  him  to  some  of  the  neigh- 
bouring villages  lately,  in  order  to  introduce  him  to  his  work  ;  and  I 
intend  to  depart  to-morrow  for  the  same  purpose  to  several  of  the 
villages  situated  north-east  of  this.  In  all  there  may  be  a  dozen  con- 
siderable villages  situated  at  convenient  distances  around  us,  and  we 
each  purpose  to  visit  them  statedly.  It  would  be  an  immense  advantage 
to  the  cause  had  we  many  such  agents." 

Another  proof  that  his  pleas  for  native  agency,  pub- 
lished in  some  of  the  Missionary  Magazines,  were  telling 
at  home,  was  the  receipt  of  a  contribution  for  the  em- 
ployment of  a  native  helper,  amounting  to  £15,  from 
a  Sunday-school  in  Southampton.  Touched  with  this 
proof  of  youthful  sympathy,  Livingstone  addressed  a  long 
letter  of  thanks  to  the  Southampton  teachers  and 
children,  desiring  to  deepen  their  interest  in  the  work, 
and  concluding  with  an  account  of  his  Sunday-school : — 

"  I  yesterday  commenced  school  for  the  first  time  at  Mabotsa,  and 
the  poor  little  naked  things  came  with  fear  and  trembling.  A  native 
teacher  assisted,  and  the  chief  collected  as  many  of  them  as  he  could, 
or  I  believe  we  should  have  had  none.  The  reason  is,  the  women 
make  us  the  hobgoblins  of  their  children,  telling  them  '  these  white 
men  bite  children,  feed  them  with  dead  men's  brains,'  and  all  manner 
of  nonsense.     We  are  just  commencing  our  mission  among  them." 

A  new  star  now  appeared  in  Livingstone's  horizon, 
destined  to  give  a  brighter  comj)lexion  to  his  life,  and  a 


70  DA  VID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  iv. 

new  illustration  to  tlie  name  Mabotsa.  Till  this  year 
(1844)  he  had  steadily  repudiated  all  thoughts  of  mar- 
riage, thinking  it  better  to  be  independent.  Nor  indeed 
had  he  met  with  any  one  to  induce  him  to  change  his 
mind.  Writing  in  the  end  of  1843  to  his  friend  Watt, 
he  had  said  :  "  There 's  no  outlet  for  me  when  I  begin  to 
think  of  getting  married  but  that  of  sending  home  an 
advertisement  to  the  Evangelical  Magazine,  and  if  I  get 
very  old,  it  must  be  for  some  decent  sort  of  widow.  In 
the  meantime  I  am  too  busy  to  think  of  anything  of  the 
kind."  But  soon  after  the  Moffats  came  back  from 
England  to  Kuruman,  their  eldest  daughter,  Mary, 
rapidly .  effected  a  revolution  in  Livingstone's  ideas  of 
matrimony.  They  became  engaged.  In  announcing  his 
approaching  marriage  to  the  Directors,  he  makes  it  plain 
that  he  had  carefully  considered  the  bearing  which  this 
step  might  have  on  his  usefulness  as  a  missionary.  No 
doubt  if  he  had  foreseen  the  very  extraordinary  work  to 
which  he  was  afterwards  to  be  called,  he  might  have 
come  to  a  different  conclusion.  But  now,  apparently,  he 
was  fixed  and  settled.  Mabotsa  would  become  a  centre 
from  which  native  missionary  agents  would  radiate  over 
a  large  circumference.  His  own  life-work  would  resemble 
]\Ii\  Moffat's.  For  influencino-  the  women  and  children 
of  such  a  place,  a  Christian  lady  was  indispensable,  and 
who  so  likely  to  do  it  well  as  one  born  in  Africa,  the 
daughter  of  an  eminent  and  honoured  missionary,  herself 
familiar  with  missionary  life,  and  gifted  with  the  win- 
ning manner  and  the  ready  helping  hand  that  were  so 
pecuHarly  adapted  for  this  work  ?  The  case  was  as  clear 
as  possible,  and  Livingstone  was  very  happy. 

On  his  way  home  from  Kuruman,  after  the  engage- 
ment, he  wi'ites  to  her  cheerily  from  Motito,  on  1st 
August  1844,  chiefly  about  the  household  they  were  soon 
to  get  up ;  asking  her  to  get  her  father  to  order  some 
necessary  articles,  and  to  write  to  Colesberg  about  the 


1 843-47-]  FIRST  TWO  STATIONS.  71 

marriage-license   (and   if  he  did  not  get  it,  they  would 
license  themselves  !),  and  concluding  thus  : — 

"  And  now,  my  clearest,  farcAvell.  May  God  bless  you  !  Let  your 
affection  be  towards  Him  much  more  than  towards  me ;  and,  kept  by 
His  mighty  power  and  grace,  I  hope  I  shall  never  give  you  cause  to 
regret  that  you  have  given  me  a  part.  Whatever  friendship  we  feel 
towards  each  other,  let  us  always  look  to  Jesus  as  our  common  friend 
and  guide,  and  may  He  shield  you  with  His  everlasting  arms  from 
every  evil !" 

Next  month  he  writes  from  Mabotsa  with  full  accounts 
of  the  progress  of  their  house,  of  which  he  was  both 
architect  and  builder  : — 

"Mabotsa,  l^th  ScpkmhcT  1844. — I  must  tell  you  of  the  progress 
I  have  made  in  architecture.  The  walls  are  nearly  finished,  although 
the  dimensions  are  52  feet  by  20  outside,  or  almost  the  same  size  as 
the  house  in  which  you  now  reside.  I  began  with  stone,  but  when  it 
was  breast-high,  I  was  obliged  to  desist  from  my  purpose  to  build  it 
entirely  of  that  material  by  an  accident,  which,  slight  as  it  was,  put  a 
stop  to  my  operations  in  that  line.  A  stone  falling  was  stupidly,  or 
rather  instinctively,  caught  by  me  in  its  fall  by  the  left  hand,  and  it 
nearly  broke  my  arm  over  again.  It  swelled  up  again,  and  I  fevered 
so  much  I  was  glad  of  a  fire,  although  the  weather  Avas  quite  warm. 
I  expected  bursting  and  discharge,  but  Baba  bound  it  up  nicely, 
and  a  few  days'  rest  put  all  to  rights.  I  then  commenced  my  architec- 
ture, and  six  days  have  brought  the  walls  up  a  little  more  than  six 
feet. 

"  The  walls  will  be  finished  long  before  you  receive  this,  and  I 
suppose  the  roof  too,  but  I  have  still  the  wood  of  the  roof  to  seek.  It 
is  not,  however,  far  off;  and  as  Mr.  E.  and  I,  with  the  Kuru- 
manites,  got  on  the  roof  of  the  school  in  a  week,  I  hope  this  will  not 
be  more  than  a  fortnight  or  three  weeks.  Baba  has  been  most  useful 
to  me  in  making  door  and  window  frames;  indeed,  if  he  had  not 
turned  out  I  should  not  have  been  so  far  advanced  as  I  am.  Mr. 
E.'s  finger  is  the  cause  in  part  of  my  having  no  aid  from  him, 
but  all  will  come  right  at  last.  It  is  pretty  hard  work,  and  almost 
enough  to  drive  love  out  of  my  head,  but  it  is  not  situated  there ;  it  is 
in  my  heart,  and  won't  come  out  unless  you  behave  so  as  to  quench 
it!  .  .  . 

"  You  must  try  and  get  a  maid  of  some  sort  to  come  Avith  you, 
although  it  is  only  old  Moyimang ;  you  can't  go  without  some  one,  and 
a  Makhatla  can't  be  had  for  either  love  or  money.  .  .  . 

"  You  must  excuse  soiled  paper,  my  hands  won't  Avash  clean  after 
dabbling  mud  all  day.     And  although  the  above  does  not  contain 


V 


72  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  iv. 

evidence  of  it,  you  are  as  dear  to  me  as  ever,  and  will  be  as  long  as 
our  lives  are  spared. — I  am  still  your  most  affectionate 

"D.  Livingston." 

A  few  weeks  later  lie  writes  : — 

"As  I  am  favoured  with  another  opportunity  to  Kuruman,  I 
gladly  embrace  it,  and  wish  I  could  embrace  you  at  the  same  time ; 
but  as  I  cannot,  I  must  do  the  next  best  to  it,  and  while  I  give  you 
the  good  news  that  our  work  is  making  progress,  and  of  course  the 
time  of  our  separation  becoming  beautifully  less,  I  am  happy  in  the 
hope  that,  by  the  messenger  who  now  goes,  I  shall  receive  the  good 
news  that  you  are  well  and  hap];)y,  and  remembering  me  with  some  of 
that  affection  which  Ave  bear  to  each  other.  .  .  .  All  goes  on  pretty  well 
here  \  the  school  is  sometimes  well,  sometimes  ill  attended.  I  begin 
to  like  it,  and  I  once  believed  I  could  never  have  any  pleasure  in  such 
employment.  I  had  a  great  objection  to  school-keeping,  but  I  find  in 
that,  as  in  almost  everything  else  I  set  myself  to  as  a  matter  of  duty, 
I  soon  became  enamoured  of  it.  A  boy  came  three  times  last  week,) 
and  on  the  third  time  could  act  as  monitor  to  the  rest  through  a  great 
portion  of  the  alphabet.  He  is  a  real  Mokhatla,  but  I  have  lost  sight 
of  him  again.  If  I  get  them  on  a  little  I  shall  translate  some  of  your 
infant-school  hymns  into  Sichuana  rhyme,  and  you  may  yet,  if  you 
have  time,  teach  them  the  tunes  to  them.  I,  poor  mortal,  am  as  mute 
as  a  fish  in  regard  to  singing,  and  Mr,  Inglis  says  I  have  not  a  bit  of 
imagination.  Mebalwe  teaches  them  the  alphabet  in  the  'auld  lang 
syne  '  tune  sometimes,  and  I  heard  it  sung  by  some  youths  in  the 
gardens  yesterday — a  great  improvement  over  their  old  see-saw  tunes 
indeed.  *Sometimes  we  have  twenty,  sometimes  two,  sometimes  none 
at  all, 

"Give  my  love  to  A.,  and  tell  her  to  be  sure  to  keep  my  lecture 
Avarm.  She  must  not  be  vexed  with  herself  that  she  was  not  more 
frank  to  me.  If  she  is  now  pleased  all  is  right.  I  have  sisters,  and 
know  all  of  you  have  your  failings,  but  I  Avon't  love  you  less  for  these. 
And  to  mother,  too,  give  my  kindest  salutation,  I  suppose  I  shall  get 
a  lecture  from  her  too  about  the  largeness  of  the  house.  If  there  are 
too  many  windows  she  can  just  let  me  know,  I  could  build  them  all 
up  in  two  days,  and  let  the  light  come  doAvn  the  chimney,  if  that 
Avould  please,  I  '11  do  anything  for  peace,  except  fighting  for  it.  And 
noAv  I  must  again,  my  dear,  dear  Mary,  bid  you  good-bye.  Accept 
my  expressions  as  literally  true  Avhen  I  say,  I  am  your  most  affectionate 
and  still  confiding  lover,  D.  Livingston." 

In  due  time  the  marriage  was  solemnised,  and  Living- 
stone brought  his  wife  to  Mabotsa.  Here  they  went 
vigorously  to  work,  Mrs.  Livingstone  with  her  infant-school, 
and  her  husband  with  all   the  varied  agfencies,  medical. 


1843-47-]  FIRST  TWO  STATIONS.  73 

educational,  and  pastoral,  which  his  active  spirit  could 
bring  to  bear  upon  the  people.  They  were  a  very 
superstitious  race,  and,  among  other  things,  had  great 
faith  in  rain-makino-.  Livino-stone  had  a  famous  en- 
counter  with  one  of  their  rain-makers,  the  effect  of 
which  was  that  the  pretender  was  wholly  nonplussed; 
but  instead  of  being  convinced  of  the  absurdity  of  tlieir 
belief,  the  people  were  rather  disposed  to  think  that 
the  missionaries  did  not  want  them  to  get  rain.  Some 
of  them  were  workers  in  iron,  who  carried  their  super- 
stitious notions  into  that  department  of  life  too,  believing 
that  the  iron  could  be  smelted  only  by  the  power  of 
medicines,  and  that  those  who  had  not  the  proper 
medicine  need  not  attempt  the  work.  In  the  hope  of 
breaking  down  these  absurdities,  Livingstone  planned 
a  course  of  popular  lectures  on  the  works  of  God  in 
creation  and  providence,  to  be  carried  out  in  the  follow- 
ing way : — 

"  I  intend  to  commence  with  the  goodness  of  God  in  giving  iron 
ore,  by  giving,  if  I  can,  a  general  knowledge  of  the  simplicity  of  the 
substance,  and  endeavouring  to  disabuse  their  minds  of  the  idea  which 
prevents  them,  in  general,  from  reaping  the  benefit  of  that  mineral 
which  abounds  in  their  country.  I  intend,  also,  to  pay  more  particular 
attention  to  the  children  of  the  few  believers  we  have  with  us  as  a 
class,  for  Avhom,  as  baptized  ones,  we  are  bound  especially  to  care. 
]\Iay  the  Lord  enable  me  to  fulfil  my  resolutions  !  I  have  now  the 
happy  prospect  before  me  of  real  missionary  Avork.  All  that  has 
preceded  has  been  preparatory." 

All  this  time  Livingstone  had  been  cherishing  his 
plan  of  a  training  seminary  for  native  agents.  He  had 
written  a  paper  and  brought  the  matter  before  the 
missionaries,  but  without  success.  Some  opposed  the 
scheme  fairly,  as  being  premature,  while  some  insinuated 
that  his  object  was  to  stand  well  with  the  Directors, 
and  get  himself  made  Professor.  This  last  objection 
induced  him  to  withdraw  his  proposal.  He  saw  that 
in  his  mode  of  prosecuting  the  matter  he  had  not  been 


74  DA  VID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap,  iv 

very  knowing ;  it  would  have   been  better  to  get  some 

of  the  older  brethren  to  adopt  it.      He  feared  that  his 

zeal  had  injured  the  cause  he  desired  to  benefit,  and  in 

wiiting  to  his  friend  Watt,  he  said  that  for  months  he 

felt  bitter  grief,  and  could  never  think  of  the  subject 

without  a  pang.^ 

/"        A  second  time  he  brought  forward  his  proposal,  but 

again   without    success.     Was   he   then   to   be   beaten  ? 

Far  from   it.      He  would   change  his  tactics,   however. 

i     He  would  first  set  himself  to  show  what  could  be  done 

\     by  native  efforts ;  he  would  travel  about,  wherever  he 

\    found  a  road,  and,  after  inquiries,  settle  native  agents 

;    far  and  wide.      The  j)lan  had  only  to   be  tried,  under 

j    God's  blessing,   to  succeed.     Here    again  we   trace  the 

I    Providence  that  shaped  his  career.     Had  his  wishes  been 

carried  into  effect,  he  might  have  spent  his  life  training 

native   agents,  and   doing   undoubtedly  a   noble   work : 

but  he  would  not  have  traversed  Africa ;  he  would  not 

have  given  its  death-blow  to  African  slavery ;  he  would 

not  have  closed  the  open  sore  of  the  world,  nor  rolled 

away  the  great    obstacle   to  the   evangelisation    of  the 

Continent. 

Some  glimpses  of  his  Mabotsa  life  may  be  got  from 
a  letter  to  his  mother  (14th  May  1845).  Usually  his 
letters  for  home  were  meant  for  the  whole  family  and 
addressed  accordingly ;  but  with  a  delicacy  of  feelmg, 
which  many  will  appreciate,  he  wrote  separately  to  his 
mother  after  a  little  experience  of  married  hfe  : — 

"  I  often  think  of  you,  and  perhaps  more  frequently  since  I  got 
married  than  before.  Only  yesterday  I  said  to  my  wife,  when  I  thought 
of  the  nice  clean  bed  I  enjoy  now,  You  put  me  in  mind  of  my  mother ; 
she  was  always  particular  about  our  beds  and  linen.  I  had  had  rough 
times  of  it  before.  .  .  . 

"  I  cannot  perceive  that  the  attentions  paid  to  my  father-in-law  at 

*  Dr  Moffat  favoured  the  scheme  of  a  training  seminary,  and  when  he  came 
home  afterwards,  helloed  to  raise  a  large  sum  of  money  for  the  purpose.  He  was 
strongly  of  opinion  that  the  Institution  should  be  built  at  f^'echele's ;  but, 
contrary  to  his  view,  and  that  of  Livingstone,  it  has  been  placed  at  Kurumau. 


1 843-47-]  FIRST  TWO  STATIONS.  75 

home  have  spoiled  him.  He  is,  of  course,  not  the  same  man  he 
formerly  must  have  been,  for  he  now  knows  the  standing  he  has 
among  the  friends  of  Christ  at  home.  But  the  plaudits  he  received 
have  had  a  bad  effect,  and  tho'  not  on  kis  mind,  yet  on  that  of  his 
fellow-labourers.  You,  perhaps,  cannot  understand  this,  but  so  it  is. 
If  one  man  is  praised,  others  think  this  is  more  than  is  deserved,  and 
that  they  too  ('  others,'  they  say,  while  they  mean  themselves)  ought 
to  have  a  share.  Perhaps  you  were  gratified  to  see  my  letters  quoted 
in  the  Chronicle.  In  some  minds  they  produced  bitter  envy,  and  if  it 
were  in  my  power,  I  should  prevent  the  publication  of  any  in  future. 
But  all  is  in  the  Lord's  hands ;  on  Him  I  cast  my  care.  His  testi- 
mony I  receive  as  it  stands — He  careth  for  us.  Yes,  He  does ;  for 
He  says  it  who  is  every  way  worthy  of  credit.  He  will  give  what  is 
good  for  me.  He  will  see  to  it  that  all  things  work  together  for  good. 
Do  thou  for  me,  0  Lord  God  Almighty !  May  His  blessing  rest  on 
you,  my  dear  mother.  .  .  . 

"  1  received  the  box  from  Mr.  D.  The  clothes  are  all  too  wide  by 
four  inches  at  least.  Does  he  think  that  Aldermen  grow  in  Africa  % 
Mr.  N.,  too,  fell  into  the  same  fault,  but  he  will  be  pleased  to  know 
his  boots  Avill  be  worn  by  a  much  better  man — Mr.  ]\Ioffat.  I  am  not 
an  atom  thicker  than  Avhen  you  saw  me.  .  .  . 

"  Respecting  the  mission  here,  we  can  say  nothing.  The  people 
have  not  the  smallest  love  to  the  gospel  of  Jesus.  They  hate  and 
fear  it,  as  a  revolutionary  spirit  is  disliked  by  the  old  Tories.  It 
appears  to  them  as  that  which,  if  not  carefully  guarded  against,  will 
seduce  them,  and  destroy  their  much-loved  domestic  institutions.  No 
pro-slavery  man  in  the  Southern  States  dreads* more  the  abolition 
principles  than  do  the  Bakhatla  the  innovations  of  the  Word  of  God. 
Nothing  but  power  Divine  can  work  the  mighty  change." 

UnLappily  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Livingstone's  residence  at 
Mabotsa  was  embittered  by  a  painful  collision  with  the 
missionary  who  had  taken  part  in  rearing  the  station, 
Livingstone  was  accused  of  acting  unfauiy  by  him,  of 
assuming  to  himself  more  than  his  due,  and  attempts 
were  made  to  discredit  him,  both  among  the  missionaries 
and  the  Directors.  It  was  a  very  painful  ordeal,  and 
Livingstone  felt  it  keenly.  He  held  the  accusation  to  be 
unjust,  as  most  people  will  hold  it  to  have  been  who 
know  that  one  of  the  charges  against  him  was  that  he 
was  a  "  nonentity  "  1  A  tone  of  indignation  pervades  his 
letters  : — that  after  having  borne  the  heat  and  burden  of 
the  day,  he  should  be  accused  of  claiming  for  himself  the 


76  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  iv. 

credit  due  to  one  who  had  done  so  little  in  comparison. 
But  the  noble  spirit  of  Livingstone  rose  to  the  occasion. 
Rather  than  have  any  scandal  before  the  heathen,  he 
would  give  up  his  house  and  garden  at  Mabotsa,  with  all 
the  toil  and  money  they  had  cost  him,  go  with  his  young 
bride  to  some  other  place,  and  begin  anew  the  toil  of 
house  and  school  building,  and  gathering  the  people 
around    him.       His    colleao-ue    was    so    struck   with    his 

o 

generosity  that  he  said  had  he  known  his  intention  he 
never  would  have  spoken  a  word  against  him.  Living- 
stone had  spent  all  his  money,  and  out  of  a  salary 
of  a  hundred  pounds  it  was  not  easy  to  build  a  house 
every  other  year.  But  he  stuck  to  his  resolution. 
Parting  with  his  garden  evidently  cost  him  a  pang, 
especially  when  he  thought  of  the  tasteless  hands  into 
which  it  was  to  fall.  "I  like  a  garden,"  he  wrote,  "but 
Paradise  will  make  amends  for  all  our  privations  and 
sorrows  here."  Self-denial  was  a  firmly-established  habit 
with  him;  and  the  passion  of  "moving  on"  was  warm 
in  his  blood.  Mabotsa  did  not  thrive  after  Livingstone 
left  it,  but  the  brother  with  whom  he  had  the  difference 
lived  to  manifest  a  very  different  spirit. 

In  some  of  his  journeys,  Livingstone  had  come  into 
close  contact  with  the  tribe  of  the  Bakwains,  which,  on 
the  murder  of  their  chief,  some  time  before,  had  been 
divided  into  two,  one  part  under  Bubi,  already  referred 
to,  and  the  other  under  Sechele,  son  of  the  murdered 
chief,  also  already  introduced.  Both  of  these  chiefs  had 
shown  much  regard  for  Livingstone,  and  on  the  death  of 
Bubi,  Sechele  and  his  people  indicated  a  strong  wish  that 
a  missionary  should  reside  among  them.  On  leaving 
Mabotsa,  Livingstone  transferred  his  services  to  this 
tribe.  The  name  of  the  new  station  was  Chonuane ;  it 
was  situated  some  forty  miles  from  Mabotsa,  and  in  1846 
it  became  the  centre  of  Livingstone's  operations  among 
the  Bakwains  and  their  chief  Sechele. 


I843-47-]  FIRST  TWO  STAfjONS. 


77 


Livingstone  liad  been  disappointed  with  the  result  of 
his  work  among  the  Bakhatlas.  No  doubt  much  good 
had  been  done ;  he  had  prevented  several  wars ;  but 
where  were  the  conversions  ?  ^  On  leaving  he  found  that  > 
he  had  made  more  impression  on  them  than  he  had 
supposed.  They  were  most  unwilling  to  lose  him, 
offered  to  do  anything  in  their  power  for  his  comfort, 
and  even  when  his  oxen  were  "inspanned"  and  he  was 
on  the  point  of  moving,  they  offered  to  build  a  new  house 
without  expense  to  him  in  some  other  place,  if  only  he 
would  not  leave  them.  In  a  financial  point  of  view,  the 
removal  to  Chonuane  was  a  serious  undertakingf.  He 
had  to  apply  to  the  Directors  at  home  for  a  building- 
grant — only  thirty  pounds,  but  there  were  not  wanting 
objectors  even  to  that  small  sum.  It  was  only  in  self- 
vindication  that  he  was  constrained  to  tell  of  the  hard- 
ships which  his  family  had  borne  : — 

"  We  endured  for  a  long  while,  using  a  wretched  infusion  of  native 
corn  for  coffee,  but  when  our  corn  was  done,  we  were  fairly  obliged  to 
go  to  Kuruman  for  supplies.  I  can  bear  what  other  Europeans  would 
consider  hunger  and  thirst  without  any  inconvenience,  but  when  we 
arrived,  to  hear  the  old  women  Avho  had  seen  my  wife  depart  about 
two  years  before,  exclaiming  before  the  door,  '  Bless  me  !  how  lean 
she  is  !  Has  he  starved  her  1  Is  there  no  food  in  the  country  to 
which  she  has  been  1 '  was  more  than  I  could  well  bear." 

From  the  first,  Sechele  showed  an  intelligent  interest 
in  Livingstone's  preaching.  He  became  a  great  reader, 
especially  of  the  Bible,  and  lamented  very  bitterly  that 

^  When  some  of  Livingstone's  "new  light  "  friends  heard  that  there  were  so 
few  conversions,  they  seem  to  have  thought  that  he  was  too  much  of  an  old 
Calvin  ist,  and  wrote  to  him  to  preach  that  the  remedy  was  as  extensive  as  the 
disease — Christ  loved  you,  and  gave  himself  for  you.  "You  may  think  me 
heretical,"  replied  he,  "but  we  don't  need  to  make  the  extent  of  the  atone- 
ment the  main  topic  of  our  preaching.  We  j)reach  to  men  who  don't  know  but 
they  are  beasts,  who  have  no  idea  of  God  as  a  personal  agent,  or  of  sin  as  evil, 
otherwise  than  as  an  offence  against  each  other,  which  may  or  may  not  be  punished 
by  the  party  offended.  .  .  .  Their  consciences  are  seared,  and  moral  perceptions 
blunted.  Their  memories  retain  scarcely  anything  we  teach  them,  and  so  low 
have  they  sunk  that  the  plainest  text  in  the  whole  Bible  cannot  be  understood 
by  them." 


78  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  iv. 

he  Lad  got  involved  in  heathen  customs,  and  now  did 
not  know  what  to  do  with  his  wives.  At  one  time  he 
expressed  himself  quite  willing  to  convert  all  his  people 
to  Christianity  by  the  litupa,  i.e.  whips  of  rhinoceros 
hide ;  but  when  he  came  to  understand  better,  he 
lamented  that  while  he  could  make  his  people  do  any- 
thing else  he  liked,  he  could  not  get  one  of  them  to 
believe.  He  began  family  worship,  and  Livingstone  was 
surprised  to  hear  how  well  he  conducted  prayer  in  his 
own  simple  and  beautiful  style.  When  he  was  baptized, 
after  a  profession  of  three  years,  he  sent  away  his 
superfluous  wives  in  a  kindly  and  generous  way ;  but  all 
their  connections  became  active  and  bitter  enemies  of 
the  gospel,  and  the  conversion  of  Sechele,  instead  of 
increasing  the  congregation,  reduced  it  so  much  that 
sometimes  the  chief  and  his  family  were  almost  the  only 
persons  present.  A  bell-man  of  a  somewhat  peculiar 
order  was  once  employed  to  collect  the  people  for  service, 
— a  talhgaunt  fellow.  "  Up  he  jumped  on  a  sort  of  plat- 
form, and  shouted  at  the  top  of  his  voice,  '  Knock  that 
woman  down  over  there.  Strike  her,  she  is  putting  on 
her  pot !  Do  you  see  that  one  hiding  herself  ?  Give  her 
a  good  blow.  There  she  is — see,  see,  knock  her  do\\Ti  1 ' 
All  the  women  ran  to  the  place  of  meeting  in  no  time, 
for  each  thought  herself  meant.  But,  though  a  most 
efficient  bell-man,  we  did  not  like  to  employ  him." 

While  residmg  at  Chonuane,  Livingstone  performed 
two  journeys  eastward,  in  order  to  attempt  the  removal 
of  certain  obstacles  to  the  establishment  of  at  least  one 
of  his  native  teachers  in  that  direction.  This  brouo^ht 
him  into  connection  with  the  Dutch  Boers  of  the  Cashan 
mountains,  otherwise  called  Magaliesberg.  The  Boers 
were  emigrants  from  the  Cape,  who  had  been  dissatisfied 
with  the  British  rule,  and  especially  with  the  emancipa- 
tion of  their  Hottentot  slaves,  and  had  created  for  them- 
selves a  republic  in  the  north  (the  Transvaal),  in  order 


1843-47]  FIRST  TWO  STATION'S.  79 

that  they  might  pursue,  unmolested,  the  proper  treatment 
of  the  blacks.  "It  is  almost  needless  to  add,"  says 
Livingstone,  "  that  proper  treatment  has  always  contained 
in  it  the  essential  element  of  slavery,  viz.  compulsory 
unpaid  labour."  The  Boers  had  effected  the  expulsion 
of  Mosilikatse,  a  savage  Zulu  warrior,  and  in  return  for 
this  service  they  considered  themselves  sole  masters  of 
the  soil.  While  still  encrac^ed  in  the  erection  of  his 
dwelling-house  at  Chonuane,  Livingstone  received  notes 
from  the  Commandant  and  Council  of  the  emigrants, 
requesting  an  explanation  of  his  intentions,  and  an 
intimation  that  they  had  resolved  to  come  and  deprive 
Sechele  of  his  fire-arms.  About  the  same  time  he  received 
several  very  friendly  messages  and  presents  from  Mo- 
khatla,  chief  of  a  large  section  of  the  Bakhatla,  who 
lived  about  four  days  eastward  of  his  station,  and  had 
once,  while  Livingstone  was  absent,  paid  a  visit  to  Chon- 
uane, and  expressed  satisfaction  with  the  idea  of  obtain- 
ing Paul,  a  native  convert,  as  his  teacher.  As  soon  as 
his  house  was  habitable,  Livingstone  proceeded  to  the 
eastward,  to  visit  Mokhatla,  and  to  confer  with  the 
Boers. 

On  his  way  to  Mokhatla  he  was  surprised  at  the 
unusual  density  of  the  population,  giving  him  the 
opportunity  of  preaching  the  gospel  at  least  once  every 
day.  The  chief,  Mokhatla,  whose  people  were  quiet 
and  industrious,  was  eager  to  get  a  missionary,  but 
said  that  an  arrangement  must  be  made  with  the  Dutch 
commandant.     This  involved  some  delay. 

Livingstone  then  returned  to  Chonuane,  finished  the 
erection  of  a  school  there,  and  setting  systematic  instruc- 
tion fairly  in  operation  under  Paul  and  his  son,  Isaac, 
again  went  eastwards,  accompanied  this  time  by  Mrs. 
Livingstone  and  their  infant  son,  Pobert  Moffat  ^^ — all  the 

^  He  wrote  to  liis  father  that  he  would  have  called  him  Neil,  if  it  had  not  been 
such  an  ugly  uame,  and  all  the  people  would  liave  called  him  Ea-Neeley ! 


So  DA  VID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  iv. 

three  being  in  IndifiPerent  health.  Mebahve  the  catechlst 
was  also  with  them.  Taking  a  different  route  they  came 
on  another  Bakhatla  tribe,  whose  country  abounded  in 
metallic  ores,  and  who,  besides  cultivating  their  fields, 
span  cotton,  smelted  iron,  copper,  and  tin,  made  an  alloy 
of  tin  and  copper,  and  manufactured  ornaments.  Living- 
stone had  constantly  an  eye  to  the  industries  and  com- 
mercial capabilities  of  the  countries  he  passed  through. 
Social  reform  was  certainly  much  needed  here ;  for  the 
chief,  though  not  twenty  years  of  age,  had  already  forty- 
eight  wives  and  twenty  children.  They  heard  of  another 
tribe,  said  to  excel  all  others  in  manufacturing  skill,  and 
having  the  honourable  distinction,  "  they  had  never  been 
known  to  kill  any  one."  This  lily  among  thorns  they  were 
unable  to  visit.  Three  tribes  of  Bakhalaka  whom  they 
did  visit  were  at  continual  war. 

Deriving  his  information  from  the  Boers  themselves, 
Livingstone  learned  that  they  had  taken  possession  of 
nearly  all  the  fountains,  so  that  the  natives  lived  in  the 
country  only  by  sufferance.  The  chiefs  were  compelled 
to  furnish  the  emisfrants  with  as  much  free  labour  as 
they  required.  This  was  in  return  for  the  privilege  of 
living  in  the  country  of  the  Boers  !  The  absence  of  law 
left  the  natives  open  to  innumerable  wrongs  which  the 
better-disposed  of  the  emigrants  lamented,  but  could 
not  prevent.  Livingstone  found  that  the  forcible  seizure 
of  cattle  was  a  common  occurrence,  but  another  custom 
was  even  worse.  When  at  war,  the  Dutch  forced  natives 
to  assist  them,  and  sent  them  before  them  into  battle,  to 
encounter  the  battle-axes  of  their  opponents,  while  the 
Dutch  fired  in  safety  at  their  enemies  over  the  heads  of 
theu'  native  allies.  Of  course  all  the  disasters  of  the  war 
fell  on  the  natives ;  the  Dutch  had  only  the  glory  and 
the  spoil.  Such  treatment  of  the  natives  burned  into 
the  very  soul  of  Livingstone.  He  was  specially  distressed 
at  the  purpose  expressed  to  pick  a  quarrel  with  Sechele, 


1 843-47-]  FIRST  TWO  STATIONS.  8i 

for  whatever  the  emigrants  might  say  of  other  tribes, 
they  could  not  but  admit  that  the  Bechuanas  had  been 
always  an  honest  and  peaceable  people. 

When  Livingstone  met  the  Dutch  commandant  he 
received  favourably  his  proposal  of  a  native  missionary, 
but  another  obstacle  arose.  Near  the  proposed  station 
lived  a  Dutch  emigrant  who  had  shown  himself  the 
inveterate  enemy  of  missions.  He  had  not  scrupled  to 
say  that  the  proper  way  to  treat  any  native  missionary 
was  to  kill  him.  Livingstone  was  unwilling  to  j)lant 
Mebalwe  beside  so  bloodthirsty  a  neighbour,  and  as  he 
had  not  time  to  go  to  him,  and  try  to  bring  him  to  a 
better  mind,  and  there  w^as  plenty  of  work  to  be  done  at 
the  station,  they  all  returned  to  Chonuane. 

"We  have  now,"  says  Livingstone  (March  1847), 
"  been  a  little  more  than  a  year  with  the  Bak wains.  No 
conversions  have  taken  place,  but  real  progress  has  been 
made."  He  adverts  to  the  way  in  which  the  Sabbath 
was  observed,  no  work  being  done  by  the  natives  in  the 
gardens  on  that  day,  and  hunting  being  suspended. 
Their  superstitious  belief  in  rain-making  had  got  a  blow. 
There  was  a  real  desire  for  knowledge,  though  hindered 
by  the  prevailing  famine  caused  by  the  want  of  rain. 
There  was  also  a  general  impression  among  the  people 
that  the  missionaries  were  their  friends.  But  civilisation 
apart  from  conversion  would  be  but  a  poor  recompence 
for  their  labour. 

But,  whatever  success  might  attend  their  work  among 
the  Bakwains,  Livingstone's  soul  was  soaring  beyond 
them : — 

"  I  am  more  and  more  convinced,"  he  writes  to  the  Directors,  "  that 
in  order  to  the  permanent  settlement  of  the  gospel  in  any  part,  the 
natives  must  be  taught  to  relinquish  their  reliance  on  Europe.  An 
onward  movement  ought  to  be  made  whether  men  will  hear  or 
whether  they  will  forbear.  I  tell  my  Bakwains  that  if  spared  ten 
years,  I  shall  move  on  to  regions  beyond  them.  If  our  missions 
would  move  onwards  now  to  those  regions  I  have  lately  visited,  they 

F 


82  DA  VI D  LIVINGSTONE.  [cHAr>.  iv. 

■would  in  all  prolxibility  prevent  the  natives  settling  into  that  state  of 
determined  hatred  to  all  Europeans  which  I  fear  now  characterises  most 
of  the  Caffres  near  the  Colony,  If  natives  are  not  elevated  by  contact 
with  Europeans,  they  are  sure  to  be  deteriorated.  It  is  with  pain  I 
have  observed  that  all  the  tribes  I  have  lately  seen  are  undergoing  the 
latter  process.  The  country  is  fine.  It  abounds  in  streams,  and  has 
many  considerable  rivers.  The  Boers  hate  missionaries,  but  by  a  kind 
and  prudent  course  of  conduct,  one  can  easily  manage  them,  ]\Iedi- 
cines  are  eagerly  received,  and  I  intend  to  procure  a  supply  of  Dutch 
tracts  for  distribution  among  them.  The  natives  who  have  been  in 
subjection  to  Mosilikatse  jjlace  unbounded  confidence  in  missionaries," 

In  his  letters  to  friends  at  home,  whatever  topic 
Livingstone  may  touch,  we  see  evidence  of  one  over- 
mastering idea — the  vastness  of  Africa,  and  the  duty  of 
beginning  a  new  era  of  enterprise  to  reach  its  people. 
Among  his  friends  the  Scotch  Congregationalists,  there 
had  been  a  keen  controversy  on  some  points  of  Calvinism. 
Livingstone  did  not  like  it ;  he  was  not  a  high  Calvinist 
theoretically,  yet  he  could  not  accept  the  new  views, 
"from  a  secret  feeling  of  being  absolutely  at  the  divine 
disposal  as  a  sinner;"  but  these  were  theoretical  questions, 
and  with  dark  Africa  around  him,  he  did  not  see  why 
the  brethren  at  home  should  split  on  them.  Missionary 
influence  in  South  Africa  was  directed  in  a  wrong 
channel.  There  were  three  times  too  many  missionaries 
in  the  colony,  and  vast  regions  beyond  lay  untouched. 
He  wrote  to  Mr,  Watt :  "If  you  meet  me  down  in  the 
colony  before  eight  years  are  expired,  you  may  shoot 
me. 

Of  his  employments  and  studies  he  gives  the  fol- 
lowing account  :  "I  get  the  Evangelical,  Scottish 
Congregational,  Eclectic,  Lancet,  British  and  Foreign 
Medical  Revieiu.  I  can  read  in  journeying,  but  little  at 
home.  Building,  gardening,  cobbling,  doctoring,  tinkermg, 
carpentering,  gun-mending,  farriering,  Avagon- mending, 
preaching,  schooling,  lecturing  on  physics  according  to 
my  means,  beside  a  chair  in  divinity  to  a  class  of  three, 
fill  u""!  my  time." 


1 843-47-]  FIRST  TJVO  STATIONS.  83 

With  all  his  other  work,  he  was  still  enthusiastic  in 
science.  *'  I  have  written  Professor  Buckland,"  he  says  to 
Mr.  Watt  (May  1845),  "and  sent  him  specimens  too,  but 
have  not  received  any  answer.  I  have  a  great  lot  by  me 
now.  I  don't  know  whether  he  received  my  letter  or 
not.  Could  you  ascertain  ?  I  am  tryhig  to  procure 
specimens  of  the  entire  geology  of  this  region,  and  will 
try  and  make  a  sort  of  chart.  I  am  taking  double 
specimens  now,  so  that  if  one  part  is  lost,  I  can  send 
another.  The  great  difficulty  is  transmission.  I  sent  a 
dissertation  on  the  decrease  of  water  in  Africa.  Call  on 
Professor  Owen  and  ask  if  he  wants  anything  in  the 
four  jars  I  still  possess,  of  either  rhinoceros,  camelopard, 
etc.  etc.  If  he  wants  these,  or  anything  else  these  jars 
will  hold,  he  must  send  me  more  jars  and  spirits  of  wine." 

He  afterwards  heard  of  the  fate  of  one  of  the  boxes  of 
specimens  he  had  sent  home — that  which  contained  the 
fossils  of  Bootchap.  It  was  lost  on  the  railway  after 
reaching  England,  in  custody  of  a  friend.  "  The  thief 
thought  the  box  contained  bullion,  no  doubt.  You  may 
think  of  one  of  the  faces  in  Punch  as  that  of  the 
scoundrel,  when  he  found  in  the  box  a  lot  of  'chucky- 
stanes.'"  He  had  got  many  nocturnal-feeding  animals, 
but  the  heat  made  it  very  difficult  to  preserve  them. 
Many  valuable  seeds  he  had  sent  to  Calcutta,  with  the 
nuts  of  the  desert,  but  had  heard  nothing  of  them.  He 
had  lately  got  knowledge  of  a  root,  to  which  the  same 
virtues  were  attached  as  to  ergot  of  rye.  He  tells  his 
friend  about  the  tsetse,  the  fever,  the  north  wind,  and 
other  African  notabilia.  These  and  many  other  interest- 
ing points  of  information  are  followed  up  by  the  signifi- 
cant question — 

"  Who  will  peneteate  through  AfpvIca  V 


84  DAVID  LI VINGSTOJSE.  [chap.  v. 


CHAPTER  Y. 

THIRD    STATION — KOLOBENG. 

A.D.  1847-1852. 

Want  of  rain  at  Clionuane — Removal  to  Kolobeng — House-building  and  public 
works — Hopeful  prospects — Letters  to  Mr.  Watt,  his  sister,  and  Dr.  Bennett 
— The  church  at  Kolobeng — Pure  communion — Conversion  of  Sechele — Letter 
from  his  brother  Charles — His  history — Livingstone's  relations  with  the  Boers 
—He  cannot  get  native  teachers  planted  in  the  east — Resolves  to  explore 
northwards — Extracts  from  Journal — Scarcity  of  water — Wild  animals  and 
other  risks — Custom-house  robberies  and  annoyances — Visit  from  Secretaiy  of 
London  Missionary  Society — Manifold  employments  of  Livingstone — Studies 
in  Sichuana — His  reflection  on  this  period  of  his  life  while  detained  at  Man- 
yuema  in  1870. 

The  residence  of  tlie  Living.stones  at  Chonuane  was  of 
short  continuance.  The  want  of  rain  was  fatal  to  agri- 
culture, and  about  equally  fatal  to  the  mission.  It  was 
necessary  to  remove  to  a  neighbourhood  where  water 
could  be  obtained.  The  new  locality  chosen  was  on  the 
banks  of  the  river  Kolobeng,  about  forty  miles  distant 
from  Chonuane.  In  a  letter  to  the  Royal  Geographical 
Society,  his  early  and  warm  friend  and  fellow-traveller, 
Mr.  Oswell,  thus  describes  Kolobeng  :  "  The  town  stands 
in  naked  deformity  on  the  side  of  and  under  a  ridge  of 
red  ironstone;  the  mission-house  on  a  little  rocky  eminence 
over  the  river  Kolobeng."  Livingstone  had  pointed  out 
to  the  chief  that  the  only  feasible  way  of  watering  the 
gardens  was  to  select  some  good  never-failing  river,  make 
a  canal,  and  irrigate  the  adjacent  lands.  The  wonderful 
influence  which  he  had  acquired  was  apparent  from  the 
fact  that  the  very  morning  after  he  told  them  of  his 
intention  to  move  to  the  Kolobeng,  the  whole  tribe  was 


1847-52.]  THIRD  STATION.  85 

in  motion  for  the  "flitting,"  Livingstone  had  to  set  to 
work  at  his  old  bnsiness^buildiug  a  house — the  third 
which  he  had  reared  with  his  own  hands.  It  was  a  mere 
hut — for  a  permanent  house  he  had  to  wait  a  year.  The 
natives,  of  course,  had  their  huts  to  rear  and  their  gardens 
to  prepare ;  but,  besides  this,  Livingstone  set  them  to 
public  works.  For  irrigating  their  gardens,  a  dam  had 
to  be  dug  and  a  water- course  scooped  out ;  sixty-five  of 
the  younger  men  dug  the  dam,  and  forty  of  the  older 
made  the  water-course.  The  erection  of  the  school  was 
undertaken  by  the  chief  Sechele  :  "I  desire,"  he  said, 
'"to  build  a  house  for  God,  the  defender  of  my  town, 
and  that  you  be  at  no  expense  for  it  whatever."  Two 
hundred  of  his  people  were  employed  in  this  work. 

Livingstone  had  hardly  had  time  to  forget  his  building 
troubles  at  Mabotsa  and  Chonuane,  when  he  began  this 
new  enterprise.  But  he  was  in  much  better  spirits,  much 
more  hopeful  than  he  had  been.  Writing  to  Mr.  Watt 
on  13th  February  1848,  he  says  : — 

"  All  our  meetings  are  good  compared  to  those  we  had  at  Mabotsa, 
and  some  of  them  admit  of  no  comparison  whatever.  Ever  since  we 
moved,  we  have  been  incessantly  engaged  in  manual  labour.  We  have 
endeavoured,  as  far  as  possible,  to  carry  on  systematic  instruction  at  the 

same  time,  but  have  felt  it  very  hard  pressure  on  our  energies 

Our  daily  labours  are  in  the  following  sort  of  order  : — 

"  We  get  up  as  soon  as  we  can,  generally  with  the  sun  in  summer, 
then  have  family  worship,  breakfast,  and  school ;  and  as  soon  as  these 
are  over  we  begin  the  manual  operations  needed,  sowing,  ploughing, 
smithy  work,  and  every  other  soi't  of  work  by  turns  as  required.  My 
better-half  is  employed  all  the  morning  in  culinary  or  other  work  ;  and 
feeling  pretty  well  tired  by  dinner-time,  Ave  take  about  two  hours'  rest 
then  ;  but  more  frequently,  without  the  respite  I  try  to  secure  for 
myself,  she  goes  off  to  hold  infant-school,  and  this,  I  am  happy  to  say, 
is  very  popular  with  the  youngsters.  She  sometimes  has  eighty,  but 
the  average  may  be  sixty.  My  manual  labours  are  continued  till 
about  five, o'clock.  I  then  go  into  the  town  to  give  lessons  and  talk  to 
any  one  who  may  be  disposed  for  it.  As  soon  as  the  cows  are  milked 
we  have  a  meeting,  and  this  is  followed  by  a  prayer-meeting  in 
Sechele's  house,  which  brings  me  home  about  half-past  eight,  and 
generally  tired  enough,  too  fatigued  to  think  of  any  mental  exertion. 


86  BA  VID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  v. 

I  do  not  enumerate  these  duties  by  way  of  telling  how  much  Ave  do, 
but  to  let  you  know  a  cause  of  sorrow  I  have  that  so  little  of  my  time 
is  devoted  to  real  missionary  work." 

First  there  was  a  temporary  house  to  be  built,  then  a 
permanent  one,  and  Livingstone  was  not  exempted  from 
the  casualties  of  mechanics.  Once  he  found  himself 
dangling  from  a  beam  by  his  weak  arm.  Another  time 
he  had  a  fall  from  the  roof.  A  third  time  he  cut  himself 
severely  with  an  axe.  Working  on  the  roof  in  the  sun, 
his  lijDS  got  all  scabbed  and  broken.  If  he  mentions  such 
things  to  Dr.  Bennett  or  other  friend,  it  is  either  in  the 
T\^ay  of  illustrating  some  medical  point  or  to  explain  how 
he  had  never  found  time  to  take  the  latitude  of  his  station 
till  he  was  stoj)ped  working  by  one  of  these  accidents.  At 
best  it  was  weary  work.  "  Two  days  ago,"  he  writes  to  his 
sister  Janet  (5th  July  1848),  "we  entered  our  new  house. 
What  a  mercy  to  be  in  a  house  again  !  A  year  in  a  little 
hut  through  which  the  wind  blew  our  candles  into 
glorious  icicles  (as  a  poet  would  say)  by  night,  and  in 
which  crowds  of  flies  continually  settled  on  the  eyes  of 
our  poor  little  brats  by  day,  makes  us  value  our  present 
castle.  Oh,  Janet,  know  thou,  if  thou  art  given  to  build- 
ing castles  in  the  air,  that  that  is  easy  work  to  erecting 
cottages  on  the  ground."  He  could  not  quite  forget  that 
it  was  unfair  treatment  that  had  driven  him  from 
Mabotsa,  and  involved  him  in  these  labours.  "  I  often 
think,"  he  writes  to  Dr.  Bennett,  "  I  have  forgiven,  as  I 
hope  to  be  forgiven  ;  but  the  remembrance  of  slander 
often  comes  boihng  up,  although  I  hate  to  think  of  it. 
You  must  remember  me  in  your  prayers  that  more  of  the 
spirit  of  Christ  may  be  imparted  to  me.  All  my  plans  of 
mental  culture  have  been  broken  through  by  manual 
labour.  I  shall  soon,  however,  be  obliged  to  give  my  son 
and  daughter  a  jog  along  the  path  to  learning.  .  .  . 
Your  family  increases  very  fast,  and  I  fear  we  follow  in 
your  wake.     I  cannot  realise  the  idea  of  your  sitting  with 


1847-52-]  THIRD  STATION.  87 

four  around  you,  and  I  can  scarcely  believe  myself  to  be 
so  far  advanced  as  to  be  the  father  of  two," 

Livingstone  never  expected  the  work  of  real  Chris- 
tianity to  advance  rapidly  among  the  Bakwains.  They 
were  a  slow  people  and  took  long  to  move.  But  it  was 
not  his  deshe  to  have  a  large  church  of  nominal  ad- 
herents. "  Nothing,"  he  writes,  "will  induce  me  to  form 
an  impure  church.  Fifty  added  to  the  church  sounds 
fine  at  home,  but  if  only  five  of  these  are  genuine,  what 
will  it  profit  in  the  Great  Day  ?  I  have  felt  more  than 
ever  lately  that  the  great  object  of  our  exertions  ought  to 
be  conversion."  There  was  no  subject  on  which  Living- 
stone had  stronger  feelings  than  on  purity  of  communion. 
For  two  whole  years  he  allowed  no  dispensation  of  the 
Lord's  Supper,  because  he  did  not  deem  the  j^rofessing 
Christians  to  be  living  consistently.  Here  was  a  crowning- 
proof  of  his  hatred  of  all  sham  and  false  pretence,  and 
his  intense  love  of  solid,  thorough,  finished  work. 

Hardly  were  things  begun  to  be  settled  at  Kolobeng 
when,  by  way  of  relaxation,  Livingstone  (January  1848) 
again  moved  eastwards.  He  would  have  gone  sooner,  but 
"  a  mad  sort  of  Scotchman,"^  having  wandered  past  them 
shooting  elephants,  and  lost  all  his  cattle  by  the  bite  of 
the  tsetse-fly,  Livingstone  had  to  go  to  his  help  ;  and 
moreover  the  dam,  having  burst,  required  to  be  repaired. 
Sechele  set  out  to  accompany  him,  and  intended  to  go 
with  him  the  whole  way ;  but  some  friends  having  come 
to  visit  his  tribe,  he  had  to  return,  or  at  least  did  return, 
leaving  Livingstone  four  gallons  of  porridge,  and  two 
servants  to  act  in  his  stead.  "  He  is  about  the  only 
individual,"  says  Livingstone,  "  who  possesses  distinct 
consistent  views  on  the  subject  of  our  mission.  He  is 
bound  by  his  wives  :  has  a  curious  idea — would  like  to  go 
to  another  country  for  three  or  four  years  in  order  to 
study,  with  the  hope  that  probably  his  wives  would  have 

*  Mr.  Gordou  Cumminc;. 


88  DA  VID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  v. 

married  others  in.  the  meantime.  He  would  then  return, 
and  be  admitted  to  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  teach  his 
people  the  knowledge  he  has  acquired.  He  seems  in- 
capable of  putting  them  away.  He  feels  so  attached  to 
them,  and  indeed  we  too  feel  much  attached  to  most 
of  them.  They  are  our  best  scholars,  our  constant  friends. 
We  earnestly  pray  that  they  too  may  be  enlightened  by 
the  Spirit  of  God." 

The  prayer  regarding  Sechele  was  answered  soon. 
Reviewing  the  year  1848  in  a  letter  to  the  Dkectors, 
Livingstone  says  :  "  An  event  that  excited  more  open 
enmity  than  any  other  was  the  profession  of  faith  and 
subsequent  reception  of  the  chief  into  the  church." 

During  the  first  years  at  Kolobeng,  he  received  a  long 
letter  from  his  younger  brother  Charles,  then  in  the 
United  States,  requesting  him  to  use  his  influence  with 
the  London  Missionary  Society  that  he  might  be  sent  as 
a  missionary  to  China.  In  writing  to  the  Directors  about 
his  brother,  in  reply  to  this  request,  Livingstone  dis- 
claimed all  idea  of  influencing  them  except  in  so  far  as  he 
might  be  able  to  tell  them  facts.  His  brother's  history 
was  very  interesting.  In  1839,  when  David  Livingstone 
was  in  England,  Charles  became  earnest  about  religion, 
influenced  partly  by  the  thought  that  as  his  brother,  to 
whom  he  was  most  warmly  attached,  was  going  abroad, 
he  might  never  see  him  again  in  this  world,  and  therefore 
he  would  prepare  to  meet  him  in  the  next.  A  strong 
desire  sprang  up  in  his  mind  to  obtain  a  liberal  edu- 
cation. Not  having  the  means  to  get  this  at  home,  he 
was  advised  by  David  to  go  to  America,  and  endeavour 
to  obtain  admission  to  one  of  the  Colleges  there  where 
the  students  support  themselves  by  manual  labour.  To 
help  him  in  this,  David  sent  him  Ave  pounds,  which  he 
had  just  received  from  the  Society,  being  the  whole  of 
his  quarter's  allowance  in  London.  On  landing  at  New 
York,   after  selling  his   box  and  bed,  Charles  found  his 


1847-52.]  THIRD  STATION.  89 

whole  stock  of  cash  to  amount  to  £2,  13s.  6d.  Purchasing 
a  loaf  and  a  piece  of  cheese  as  viaticum,  he  started  for 
a  College  at  Oberlin,  seven  hundred  miles  off,  where 
Dr,  Finney  was  President.  He  contrived  to  get  to  the 
College  without  having  ever  begged.  In  the  third  year 
he  entered  on  the  theological  course,  with  the  view  of 
becoming  a  missionary.  He  did  not  wish,  and  could  never 
agree,  as  a  missionary,  to  hold  an  appointment  from 
an  American  Society,  on  account  of  the  relation  of  the 
American  Churches  to  slavery  ;  therefore  he  applied  to 
the  London  Missionary  Society.  David  had  suggested 
to  his  father  that  if  Charles  was  to  be  a  missionary, 
he  ought  to  direct  his  attention  to  China.  Livingstone's 
first  missionary  love  had  not  become  cold,  and  much 
though  he  might  have  washed  to  have  his  brother  in 
Africa,  he  acted  consistently  on  his  old  conviction  that 
there  were  enough  of  English  missionaries  there,  and 
that  China  had  much  more  need. 

The  Directors  declined  to  appoint  Charles  Livingstone 
without  a  personal  visit,  which  he  could  not  afford  to 
make.  This  circumstance  led  him  to  accept  a  pastorate  in 
New  England,  where  he  remained  until  1857,  when  he 
came  to  this  country  and  joined  his  brother  in  the  Zam- 
besi Expedition.  Afterwards  he  w^as  appointed  H.  M. 
Consul  at  Fernando  Po,  but  being  always  delicate,  he 
succumbed  to  the  climate  of  the  country,  and  died  a  few 
months  after  his  brother,  on  his  way  home,  in  October 
1873,  Sir  Bartle  Frere,  as  President  of  the  Poyal 
Geographical  Society,  paid  a  deserved  tribute  to  his 
affectionate  and  earnest  nature,  his  consistent  Christian 
life,  and  his  valuable  help  to  Christian  missions  and  the 
African  cause  generally.^ 

Livingstone's  relations  with  the  Boers  did  not  im- 
prove. He  has  gone  so  fully  into  this  subject  in  his 
Missionary  Travels  that  a  very  slight  reference  to  it  is  aU 

^  Journal  of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society,  1S7-1,  p.  cxxviii. 


90  DA  VID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  v. 

that  is  needed  here.  It  was  at  first  very  difficult  for  him 
to  comprehend  how  the  most  flagrant  injustice  and  in- 
humanity to  the  black  race  could  be  combined,  as  he 
found  it  to  be,  with  kindness  and  general  respectability, 
and  even  with  the  profession  of  piety.  He  only  came  to 
comprehend  this  when,  after  more  experience,  he  under- 
stood the  demorahsation  which  the  slave-system  produces. 
It  was  necessary  for  the  Boers  to  possess  themselves  of 
children  for  servants,  and  believing  or  fancying  that  in 
some  tribe  an  insurrection  was  plotting,  they  would  fall 
on  that  tribe  and  bring  off  a  number  of  the  children. 
The  most  foul  massacres  were  justified  on  the  ground  that 
they  were  necessary  to  subdue  the  troublesome  tendencies 
of  the  people,  and  therefore  essential  to  permanent  peace. 
Livingstone  felt  keenly  that  the  Boers  who  came  to  Uve 
among  the  Bakwains  made  no  distinction  between  them 
and  the  Caffres,  although  the  Bechuanas  were  noted  for 
honesty,  and  never  attacked  either  Boers  or  English. 
On  the  principle  of  elevating  vague  rumours  into  alarm- 
ing facts,  the  Boers  of  the  Cashan  Mountains,  having 
heard  that  Sechele  was  possessed  of  fire-arms  (the  number 
of  his  muskets  was  five  I)  multiplied  the  number  by  a 
hundred,  and  threatened  him  with  an  invasion.  Living- 
stone, who  was  accused  of  supplying  these  arms,  went  to 
the  Commandant  Krieger,  and  prevailed  upon  him  to 
defer  the  expedition,  but  refused  point-blank  to  comply 
with  Krieger's  wish  that  he  should  act  as  a  spy  on  the 
Bakwains.  Threatening  messages  continued  to  be  sent  to 
Sechele,  ordering  him  to  surrender  himself,  and  to  pre- 
vent English  traders  from  passing  through  his  country, 
or  selling  fire-arms  to  his  people.  On  one  occasion 
Livingstone  was  told  by  Mr.  Potgeiter,  a  leading  Dutch- 
man, that  he  would  attack  any  tribe  that  might  receive  a 
native  teacher.  Livingstone  was  so  thoroughly  identified 
with  the  natives  that  it  became  the  desire  of  the  colonists 
to  get  rid  of  him  and  all  his  belongings,  and  complaints 


1847-52.]  THIRD  STATION.  91 

were  made  of  him  to  the  Colonial  Government  as  a 
dangerous  person  that  ought  not  to  be  let  alone. 

All  this  made  it  very  clear  to  Livingstone  that  his 
favourite  plan  of  planting  native  teachers  to  the  eastvrard 
could  not  be  carried  into  eftect,  at  least  for  the  present. 
His  disajDpointment  in  this  was  only  another  link  in 
the  chain  of  causes  that  gave  to  the  latter  part  of  his  life 
so  unlooked-for  but  glorious  a  destination.  It  set  him  to 
inquire  whether  in  some  other  direction  he  might  not 
find  a  sphere  for  planting  native  teachers  which  the 
jealousy  of  the  Boers  prevented  in  the  east. 

Before  we  set  out  with  him  on  the  northward  journeys, 
to  which  he  was  led  partly  by  the  hostility  of  the  Boers 
in  the  east,  and  jDartly  by  the  very  distressing  failure  of 
rain  at  Kolobeng,  a  few  extracts  may  be  given  from  a 
record  of  the  period  entitled  "  A  portion  of  a  Journal  lost 
in  the  destruction  of  Kolobeng  (September  1853)  by  the 
Boers  of  Pretorius,"  Livingstone  appears  to  have  kept 
journals  from  an  early  period  of  his  life  with  characteristic 
care  and  neatness  ;  but  that  ruthless  and  most  atrocious 
raid  of  the  Boers,  which  we  shall  have  to  notice  hereafter, 
deprived  him  of  all  of  them  up  to  that  elate.  The  treat- 
ment of  his  books  on  that  occasion  was  one  of  the  most 
exasperating  of  his  trials.  Had  they  been  burned  or 
carried  off  he  would  have  minded  it  less  ;  but  it  was  un- 
speakably provoking  to  hear  of  them  lying  about  with 
handfuls  of  leaves  torn  out  of  them,  or  otherwise  mutilated 
and  destroyed.  From  the  wreck  of  his  journals  the  only 
part  saved  was  a  few  pages  containing  notes  of  some 
occurrences  in  1848-49  : — 

''Maij  20,  1848.— Spoke  to  Sech^le  of  the  evil  of  trusting  in  medi- 
cines instead  of  God.  He  felt  afraid  to  dispute  on  the  subject,  and 
said  he  would  give  up  all  medicine  if  I  only  told  him  to  do  so.  I  was 
gratified  to  see  symptoms  of  tender  conscience.  May  God  enlighten 
him  ! 

"t/«7y/  10/A. — Entered  new  house  on  4  th  curt.  A  great  mercy. 
Hope  it  may  be  more  a  house  of  prayer  than  any  we  have  yet  inhabited. 


92  DA  VID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  v. 

"  Sunday,  August  G. — Secliele  remained  as  a  spectator  at  the  cele- 
bration of  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  when  we  retired  he  asked  me  how 
he  ought  to  act  with  reference  to  his  superfluous  wives,  as  he 
greatly  desired  to  conform  to  the  will  of  Christ,  be  baptized,  and 
observe  His  ordinances.  Advised  him  to  do  according  to  what 
he  saw  written  in  God's  Book,  but  to  treat  them  gently,  for  they 
had  sinned  in  ignorance,  and  if  driven  away  hastily  might  be  lost 
eternally. 

^^  Sept.  1. — Much  opposition,  but  none  manifested  to  us  as  indi- 
viduals. Some,  however,  say  it  was  a  pity  the  lion  did  not  kill  me  at 
Mabotsa.  They  curse  the  chief  (Sechele)  with  very  bitter  curses,  and 
these  come  from  the  mouths  of  those  Avhom  Sechele  would  formerly 
have  destroyed  for  a  single  disrespectful  word.  The  truth  will,  by  the 
aid  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  ultimately  prevail. 

"  Oct.  1. — Sechele  baptized;  also  Setefano. 

"  J^ov. — Long  for  rains.  Everything  languishes  during  the  intense 
heat ;  and  successive  droughts  having  only  occurred  since  the  Gospel 
came  to  the  Bakwains,  I  fear  the  effect  will  be  detrimental.  There  is 
abundance  of  rain  all  around  us.  And  yet  we,  who  have  our  chief 
at  our  head  in  attachment  to  the  gospel,  receive  not  a  drop.  Has 
Satan  power  over  the  course  of  the  winds  and  clouds  1  Feel  afraid 
he  will  obtain  an  advantage  over  us,  but  must  be  resigned  entirely  to 
the  Divine  will. 

"Nov.  27. — 0  Devil!  Prince  of  the  power  of  the  air,  art  thou 
hindering  us  ?  Greater  is  He  who  is  for  us  than  all  Avho  can  be  against 
us.  I  intend  to  proceed  Avith  Paul  to  Mokhatla's.  He  feels  much 
pleased  wath  the  prospect  of  forming  a  new  station.  May  God 
Almighty  bless  the  jDoor  unworthy  effort !  Mebalwe's  house  finished. 
Preparing  woodwork  for  Paul's  house. 

"  Bee.  1 6. — Passed  by  invitation  to  Hendrick  Potgeiter.    Opposed 

to  building  a  school Told  him  if  he  hindered  the  Gospel  the 

blood  of  these  people  would  be  required  at  his  hand.  He  became 
much  excited  at  this. 

"  iJec.    17. — Met  Dr.  Robertson  of  Swellendam.     Very  friendly. 

Boers  very  violently  opposed Went  to  Pilanics.     Had  large 

attentive  audiences  at  two  villages  when  on  the  way  home.  Paul  and 
I  looked  for  a  ford  in  a  dry  river.  Found  we  had  got  a  she  black 
rhinoceros  between  us  and  the  Avagon,  Avhich  was  only  twenty  yards 
off.  She  had  calved  during  the  night — a  little  red  beast  like  a  dog. 
She  charged  the  wagon,  split  a  spoke  and  a  felloe  with  her  horn,  and 
then  left.  Paul  and  I  jumj)ed  into  a  rut  as  the  guns  were  in  the 
wagon." 

The  black  rhinoceros  is  one  of  the  most  dangerous  of 
the  wild  beasts  of  Africa,  and  travellers  stand  in  great 
awe  of  it.      The  courage  of  Dr.  Livingstone  in  exposing 


1847-52.]  THIRD  STATION.  93 

himself  to  the  risk  of  such  animals  on  this  missionary 
tour  was  none  the  less  that  he  himself  says  not  a  word 
regarding  it ;  but  such  courage  was  constantly  shown  by 
him.  The  following  instances  are  given  on  the  authority 
of  Dr.  Moffat  as  samples  of  what  w^as  habitual  to  Dr. 
Livingstone  in  the  performance  of  his  duty. 

In  going  through  a  wood,  a  party  of  hunters  were 
startled  by  the  appearance  of  a  black  rhinoceros.  The 
furious  beast  dashed  at  the  wagon,  and  drove  his  horn 
into  the  bowels  of  the  driver,  inflicting  a  frightful  wound. 
A  messenger  was  despatched  in  the  greatest  haste  for 
Dr.  Livingstone,  whose  house  was  eight  or  ten  miles 
distant.  The  messenger  in  his  eagerness  ran  the 
whole  way.  Livingstone's  friends  were  horror-struck  at 
the  idea  of  his  riding  through  that  wood  at  night,  exposed 
to  the  rhinoceros  and  other  deadly  beasts.  ''  No,  no  ; 
you  must  not  think  of  it,  Livingstone  ;  it  is  certain 
death."  Livingstone  believed  it  was  a  Christian  duty  to 
try  to  save  the  poor  fellow's  life,  and  he  resolved  to  go,  y 
happen  what  might.  Mounting  his  horse,  he  rode  to 
the  scene  of  the  accident.  The  man  had  died,  and  the 
wagon  had  left,  so  that  there  was  nothing  for  Living- 
stone but  to  return  and  run  the  risk  of  the  forest  anew, 
without  even  the  hope  that  he  might  be  useful  in  saving 
life. 

Another  time,  when  he  and  a  brother  missionary 
were  on  a  tour  a  long  way  from  home,  a  messenger 
came  to  tell  his  companion,  that  one  of  his  children  was 
alarmingly  ill.  It  was  but  natural  for  him  to  desire 
Livingstone  to  go  back  with  him.  The  way  lay  over  a 
road  infested  by  lions.  Livingstone's  life  would  be  in 
danger ;  moreover,  as  we  have  seen,  he  was  intensely 
desirous  to  examine  the  fossil  bones  at  the  place.  But 
when  his  friend  expressed  the  desire  for  him  to  go,  he 
went  without  hesitation.  His  firm  belief  in  Providence 
sustained  him  in  these  as  in  so  many  other  dangers. 


i 


94  J)A  VID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  v. 

Medical  practice  was  certainly  not  made  easier  by 
what  happened  to  some  of  his  packages  from  England. 
Writing  to  his  father-in-law,  Mr.  Mofiat  (iSth  January 
1849),  he  says  : — 

"  Most  of  our  boxes  which  come  to  us  from  England  are  opened, 
and  usually  lightened  of  their  contents.  You  will  perhaps  remember 
one  in  which  Sech^le's  cloak  was.  It  contained,  on  leaving  Glasgow, 
besides  the  articles  Avhich  came  here,  a  parcel  of  surgical  instruments 
•which  I  ordered,  and  of  course  paid  for.  One  of  these  was  a  valuable 
cupping  apparatus.  The  value  at  which  the  instruments  were  pur- 
chased for  me  was  £4,  12s.,  their  real  value  much  more. 

"  The  box  which  you  kindly  packed  for  us  and  despatched  to 
Glasgow  has,  we  hear,  been  gutted  by  the  Custom-House  thieves,  and 
only  a  very  few  plain  karosses  left  in  it.  When  we  see  a  box  which 
has  been  opened  we  have  not  half  the  pleasure  which  Ave  otherwise 
should  in  unpacking  it.  .  .  .  Can  you  give  me  any  information  how 
these  annoyances  may  be  prevented]  Or 'must  we  submit  to  it  as  one 
of  the  crooked  things  of  this  life,  which  Solomon  says  cannot  be  made 
straight  ]" 

Not  only  in  these  scenes  of  active  missionary  labour, 
but  everywhere  else,  Livingstone  was  in  the  habit  of 
preaching  to  the  natives,  and  conversing  seriously  with 
them  on  religion,  his  favourite  topics  being  the  love  of 
Christ,  the  Fatherhood  of  God,  the  resurrection,  and  the 
last  judgment.  His  preaching  to  them,  in  Dr.  Moffat's 
judgment,  was  highly  effective.  It  was  simple,  scrijD- 
tural,  conversational,  went  straight  to  the  point,  was  well 
fitted  to  arrest  the  attention,  and  remarkably  adapted  to 
the  capacity  of  the  people.  To  his  father  he  writes  (5th 
July  1848)  :  "  For  a  long  time  I  felt  much  depressed  after 
preaching  the  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ  to  apparently 
insensible  hearts ;  but  now  I  like  to  dwell  on  the  love  of 
the  great  Mediator,  for  it  always  warms  my  own  heart, 
and  I  know  that  the  gospel  is  the  power  of  God — the 
great  means  which  He  employs  for  the  regeneration  of 
our  ruined  world." 

In  the  bemnninof  of  1849  Livino^stone  made  the  first 
of  a  series  of  journeys  to  the  north,  in  the  hope  of 
planting  native  missionaries  among  the  people.     Not  to 


1 847-5 2.]  THIRD  STATION.  95 

interrupt  the  continuous  account  of  these  journeys,  we 
may  advert  here  to  a  visit  paid  to  him  at  Kolobeng,  on 
his  return  from  the  first  of  them,  in  the  end  of  the  year, 
by  Mr.  Freeman  of  the  London  Missionary  Society,  who 
was  at  that  time  visiting  the  African  stations.  Mr. 
Freeman,  to  Livingstone's  regret,  was  in  favour  of  keep- 
ing up  all  the  Colonial  stations,  because  the  London 
Society  alone  paid  attention  to  the  black  population.  He 
was  not  much  in  sympathy  with  Livingstone. 

"  Mr.  Freeman,"  he  "v\Tites  confidentially  to  Mr.  Watt,  "  gave  us 
no  hope  to  expect  any  new  field  to  be  taken  up.  '  Expenditure  to  be 
reduced  in  Africa'  was  the  word,  when  I  proposed  the  new  region 
beyond  us,  and  there  is  nobody  Avilling  to  go  except  Mr.  Moffat  and 
myself.  Six  hundred  miles  additional  land-carriage,  niosquitos  in 
myriads,  sparrows  by  the  million,  an  epidemic  frequently  fatal,  don't 
look  well  in  a  picture.  I  am  270  miles  from  Kuruman  ;  land-carriage  for 
all  that  we  use  makes  a  fearful  inroad  into  the  £100  of  salary,  and  then 
GOO  miles  beyond  this  makes  one  think  unutterable  things,  for  nobody 
likes  to  call  for  more  salary.  I  think  the  Indian  salary  ought  to  be 
given  to  those  who  go  into  the  tropics.  I  have  a  very  strong  desire 
to  go  and  reduce  the  new  language  to  writing,  but  I  cannot  perform 
impossibilities.  I  don't  think  it  quite  fair  for  the  Churches  to  expect 
their  messenger  to  live,  as  if  he  Avere  the  Prodigal  Son,  on  tbe  husks 
that  the  swine  do  eat,  but  I  should  be  ashamed  to  say  so  to  any  one 
but  yourself." 

*'  I  cannot  perform  impossibilities,''  said  Livingstone  ; 
but  few  men  could  come  so  near  doing  it.  His  activity 
of  mind  and  body  at  this  outskirt  of  civilisation  was 
wonderful.  A  Jack-of-all-trades,  he  is  building  houses  ^y^ 
and  schools,  cultivating  gardens,  scheming  in  every 
manner  of  way  how  to  get  water,  which  in  the  remark- 
able drought  of  the  season  becomes  scarcer  and  scarcer ; 
as  a  missionary  he  is  holding  meetings  every  other  night, 
preaching  on  Sundays,  and  taking  such  other  oppor- 
tunities as  he  can  find  to  gain  the  people  to  Christ ;  as  a 
medical  man  he  is  dealino;  with  the  more  difiicult  cases 
of  disease,  those  which  baffle  the  native  doctors  ;  as  a 
man  of  science  he  is  taking  observations,  collecting  speci- 
mens,   thinking    out    geograDhical,    geological,   meteoro- 


96  DA  VID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  v. 

logical,  and  other  problems  bearing  on  the  structure  and 
condition  of  the  continent ;  as  a  missionary  statesman  he 
is  planning  how  the  actual  force  might  be  disposed  of  to 
most  advantage,  and  is  looking  round  in  this  direction 
and  in  that,  over  hundreds  of  miles,  for  openings  for 
native  agents  ;  and  to  promote  these  objects  he  is  writing 
long  letters  to  the  Directors,  to  the  Missionary  Chronicle, 
to  the  British  Banner,  to  private  friends,  to  any  one 
likely  to  take  an  interest  in  his  plans. 

But  this  does  not  exhaust  his  labours.  He  is  deeply 
interested  in  philological  studies,  and  is  writing  on  the 
Sichuana  language  : — 

"  I  have  been  hatching  a  grammar  of  the  Sichuana  language,"  he 
writes  to  Mr.  Watt.  "  It  is  different  in  structure  from  any  other  lan- 
guage, except  the  ancient  Egyptian.  Most  of  the  changes  are  effected  by 
means  of  jDrefixes  or  affixes,  the  radical  remaining  unchanged.  Attempts 
have  been  made  to  form  grammars,  but  all  have  gone  on  the  principle 
of  establishing  a  resemblance  bet\yeen  Sichuana,  Latin,  and  Greek ; 
mine  is  on  the  principle  of  analysing  the  language  Avithout  reference 
to  any  others.  Grammatical  terms  are  only  used  when  I  cannot 
express  my  meaning  in  any  other  way.  The  analysis  renders  the 
whole  language  very  simple,  and  I  believe  the  principle  elicited 
extends  to  most  of  the  languages  between  this  and  Egypt.  I  wish  to 
know  whether  I  could  get  20  or  30  copies  printed  for  private  distri- 
bution at  an  expense  not  beyond  my  means.  It  would  be  a  mere 
tract,  and  about  the  size  of  this  letter  when  folded,  40  or  50  pages 
perhaps.^  Will  you  ascertain  the  cost,  and  tell  me  Avhether,  in  the 
event  of  my  continuing  hot  on  the  subject  half  a  year  hence,  you 
would  be  the  corrector  of  the  press  1  .  .  .  Will  you  examine  catalogues 
to  find  whether  there  is  any  dictionary  of  ancient  Egyptian  Avithin 
my  means,  so  that  I  might  purchase  and  compare  1  I  should  not 
grudge  two  or  three  pounds  for  it.  Professor  Vater  has  written  on 
it,  but  I  do  not  know  what  dictionary  he  consulted.  One  Tattam 
has  written  a  Coptic  grammar ;  perhaps  that  has  a  vocabulary,  and 
might  serve  my  purpose.  I  see  Tattam  advertised  by  John  Russell 
Smith,  4  Old  Compton  Street,  Soho,  London, — '  Tattam  (H.),  Lexicon 
Egyptlaco-Lathmm  e  veteribus  linguae  Erjiiptiacae  moninnentis ;  thick  8vo, 
bds.,  10s.,  Oxf.  1835.'     Will  you  purchase  the  above  for  me?" 

At  Mabotsa  and  Chonuane  the  Livingstones  had  spent 
but  a  little  time  ;  Kolobeng  may  be  said  to  have  been 

^  This  gives  a  correct  idea  of  the  length  of  many  of  his  letters. 


1847-52]  THIRD  STATION.  _  97 

the  only  permanent  home  they  ever  had.  During  these 
years  several  of  their  children  were  born,  and  it  was  the 
only  considerable  period  of  their  lives  when  both  had 
their  children  about  them.  Lookinof  back  afterwards 
on  this  period,  and  its  manifold  occupations,  whilst  de- 
tained in  Manyuema,  in  the  year  1870,  Dr.  Livingstone 
wrote  the  foUowino^  strikinof  words  : — 

"  I  often  ponder  over  my  missionary  career  among  the  Bakwains  or 
Bakwaina,  and  though  conscious  of  many  imperfections,  not  a  single 
pang  of  regret  arises  in  the  view  of  my  conduct,  except  that  I  did  not 
feel  it  to  he  my  duty,  while  spending  all  my  energy  in  teaching  the 
heathen,  to  devote  a  special  portion  of  my  time  to  play  with  my 
children.  But  generally  I  was  so  much  exhausted  Avith  the  mental 
and  manual  labour  of  the  day,  that  in  the  evening  there  Avas  no  fun 
left  in  me.  I  did  not  play  with  my  little  ones  while  I  had  them,  and 
they  soon  sprung  up  in  my  absences,  and  left  me  conscious  that  I  had 
none  to  play  with." 

The  heart  that  felt  this  one  regret  in  looking  back  to 
this  busy  time  must  have  been  true  indeed  to  the  instincts 
of  a  parent.  But  Livingstone's  case  was  no  exception  to 
that  mysterious  law  of  our  life  in  this  w^orld,  by  which, 
in  so  many  things,  we  learn  how  to  correct  our  errors 
only  after  the  opportunity  is  gone.  Of  all  the  crooks  in 
his  lot,  that  which  gave  him  so  short  an  opportunity  of 
securinor  the  aflPections  and  mouldinof  the  character  of  his 
children  seems  to  have  been  the  hardest  to  bear.  His 
long  detention  at  Manyuema  appears,  as  we  shall  see 
hereafter,  to  have  been  spent  by  him  in  learning  more 
completely  the  lesson  of  submission  to  the  will  of  God ; 
and  the  hard  trial  of  sejDaration  from  his  family,  entailing 
on  them  what  seemed  irreparable  loss,  was  among  the 
last  of  his  sorrows  over  which  he  was  able  to  write  the 
words  with  which  he  closes  the  account  of  his  Avife's 
death    in    the    Zambesi    and    its    Tributaries, — ''  Fiat, 

Do  JUNE,   VOLUNTAS    TUA  1" 


98  DA  VID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  vi. 


CHAPTEE  VI. 

KOLOBENG  continual — LAKE  'nGAMI. 
A.D.  1849-1852. 

Kololieng  failing  through  drought — Sebituane's  country  and  the  Lake  'Ngami — 
Livingstone  sets  out  with  Messrs.  Oswell  and  Murray — Kivers  Zouga  and 
Tamanak'le — Okl  ideas  of  the  interior  revolutionised — Enthusiasm  of  Living- 
stone— Discovers  Lake  'Ngami — Obliged  to  return — Prize  from  Royal  Geo- 
graphical Society — Second  expedition  to  the  lake,  with  wife  and  children — 
Children  attacked  by  fever — Again  obliged  to  return — Conviction  as  to 
healthier  spot  beyond — Idea  of  finding  passage  to  sea  either  west  or  east — 
Birth  and  death  of  a  child — Family  visits  Kuruman — Third  expedition,  again 
with  family— He  hopes  to  find  a  new  locality — Perils  of  the  journey — He 
reaches  Sebituane — The  Chief's  illness  and  death — Distress  of  Livingstone — 
JSIr  Oswell  and  he  go  on  to  Linyanti — Disco^'ery  of  the  Ujiper  Zambesi — No 
locality  found  for  settlement — More  extended  journey  necessary — He  returns 
— Birth  of  Oswell  Livingstone — Crisis  in  Livingstone's  life — His  guiding  prin- 
ciples— New  plans — The  Makololo  begin  to  practise  slave-trade — New  thoughts 
about  commerce — Letters  to  Directors — The  Bakwains — Pros  and  cons  of  his 
new  plan — His  unabated  missionary  zeal — He  goes  with  his  family  to  the  Cape 
— His  literary  activity. 

When  Sechele  turned  back  after  going  so  far  with 
Livingstone  eastwards,  it  appeared  that  his  courage  had 
failed  him.  "  Will  you  go  with  me  northwards  ?"  Living- 
stone once  asked  him,  and  it  turned  out  that  he  was 
desirous  to  do  so.  He  wished  to  see  Sebituane,  a  great 
chief  living  to  the  north  of  Lake  'Ngami,  who  had  saved 
his  life  in  his  infancy,  and  otherwise  done  him  much 
service.  Sebituane  was  a  man  of  great  ability,  who  had 
brought  a  vast  number  of  tribes  into  subjection,  and 
now  ruled  over  a  very  extensive  territory,  being  one  of 
the  greatest  magnates  of  Africa.  Livingstone  too  had 
naturally  a  strong  desire  to  become  acquainted  with  so 
influential  a  man.      The  fact  of  his  livinfif  near  the  lake 


1849-52-]  KOLOBENG—LAKE  'NGAMI.  99 

revived  the  project  that  had  shimbered  for  years  in  his 
mind — to  be  the  first  of  the  missionaries  who  should  look 
on  its  waters.  At  Kolobeng,  too,  the  settlement  was  in 
such  straits,  owing  to  the  excessive  drought  which  dried 
up  the  very  river,  that  the  people  would  be  compelled  to 
leave  it  and  settle  elsewhere.  The  want  of  water,  and 
consequently  of  food,  in  the  gardens,  obliged  the  men  to 
be  often  at  a  distance  hunting,  and  the  women  to  be 
absent  collecting  locusts,  so  that  there  was  hardly  any 
one  to  come  either  to  church  or  school.  Even  the  observ- 
ance of  the  Sabbath  broke  down.  If  Kolobeng  should 
have  to  be  abandoned,  where  would  Livingstone  go  next? 
It  was  certainly  worth  his  w^hile  to  look  if  a  suitable 
locality  could  not  be  found  in  Sebituane's  territory.  He 
had  resolved  that  he  would  not  stay  with  the  Bakwains 
always.  If  the  new  region  were  not  suitable  for  himself, 
he  might  find  openings  for  native  teachers  ;  at  all  events, 
he  would  go  northwards  and  see.  Just  before  he  started, 
messengers  came  to  him  from  Lechulatebe,  chief  of  the 
people  of  the  lake,  asking  him  to  visit  his  country,  and 
giving  such  an  account  of  the  quantity  of  ivory  that  the 
cupidity  of  the  Bakwain  guides  was  roused,  and  they 
became  quite  eager  to  be  there. 

On  1st  June  1849  Livingstone  accordingly  set  out  '^ 
from  Kolobeng.  Sechele  was  not  of  the  party,  but  two 
English  hunting  friends  accompanied  him,  Mr.  Oswell 
and  Mr.  Murray — Mr.  Oswell  generously  defraying  the 
cost  of  the  guides.  Sekomi,  a  neighbouring  chief  who 
secretly  wished  the  expedition  to  fail,  lest  his  monopoly 
of  the  ivory  should  be  broken  up,  remonstrated  with  them 
for  rushing  on  to  certain  death— they  must  be  killed  by 
the  sun  and  thirst,  and  if  he  did  not  stop  them,  people 
would  blame  him  for  the  issue.  "No  fear,"  said  Livino-- 
stone,  ''people  will  only  blame  our  own  stupidity." 

The  great  Kalahari  desert,  of  which  Livingstone  has 
given  so  full  an  account,  lay  between  them  and  the  lake. 


loo  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  vi. 

They  passed  along  its  north-east  border,  and  had  tra- 
versed about  half  of  tlie  distance,  when  one  day  it  seemed 
most  unexpectedly  that  they  had  got  to  their  journey's 
end.  Mr.  Oswell  was  a  little  in  advance,  and  having 
cleared  an  intervening  thick  belt  of  trees,  beheld  in  the 
soft  light  of  the  setting  sun  what  seemed  a  magnificent 
lake  twenty  miles  in  circumference  ;  and  at  the  sight 
threw  his  hat  in  the  air,  and  raised  a  shout  which  made 
the  Bakwains  think  him  mad.  He  fancied  it  was  'Ngami, 
and,  indeed,  it  was  a  wonderful  deception,  caused  by  a 
kirge  salt-pan  gleammg  in  the  light  of  the  sun ;  in  fact, 
the  old  but  ever  new  phenomenon  of  the  mirage.  The 
real  'Ngami  was  yet  300  miles  farther  on. 

Livingstone  has  given  ample  details  of  his  progress  in 
the  Missionary  Travels,  dwelling  especially  on  his  joy 
when  he  reached  the  beautiful  river  Zouga,  whose  waters 
flowed  from  'Ngami,  Providence  frustrated  an  attempt 
to  rouse  ill-feeling  against  him  on  the  part  of  two  men 
who  had  been  sent  by  Sekomi,  apparently  to  help  him, 
but  who  now  went  before  him  and  circulated  a  report 
that  the  object  of  the  travellers  was  to  plunder  all  the 
tribes  living  on  the  river  and  lake.  Half-way  up,  the 
jDrincipal  man  was  attacked  by  fever,  and  died ;  the 
natives  thought  it  a  judgment,  and  seeing  through 
Sekomi's  reason  for  wishing  the  exjjedition  not  to  suc- 
ceed, they  by  and  by  became  quite  friendly,  under 
Livingstone's  fair  and  kind  treatment. 

A  matter  of  great  significance  in  his  future  history 
occurred  at  the  junction  of  the  rivers  Tamanak'le  and 
Zouga  : — • 

"I  inquired,"  he  says,  "wlience  the  Tamanak'le  came.  'Oh! 
from  a  country  full  of  rivers, — so  many,  no  one  can  tell  their  number, 
and  full  of  large  trees.'  This  was  the  first  confirmation  of  statements 
I  iiad  heard  from  the  Bakwains  who  had  been  Avith  Sebituane,  that 
the  country  beyond  was  not  the  'large  sandy  plateau'  of  the  philosophers. 
The  prospect  of  a  highway,  capable  of  being  traversed  by  boats  to  an 
entirely  unexplored  and  Aer}^  populous  region,  grew  from  that  time 


1849-52]  KOLOBENG—LAKE  'NGAMI.  loi 

forward  stronger  and  stronger  in  my  mind ;  so  much  so,  that  when  we 
actually  came  to  the  lake,  this  idea  occupied  such  a  large  portion  of 
my  mental  vision,  that  the  actual  discovery  seemed  of  but  little 
importance.  I  find  I  wrote,  when  the  emotions  caused  by  the 
magnificent  prospects  of  the  new  country  were  first  awakened  in  my 
breast,  that  they  '  might  subject  me  to  the  charge  of  enthusiasm,  a 
charge  which  I  wished  I  deserved,  as  nothing  good  or  great  had  ever 
been  accomplished  in  the  world  without  it.'"^ 

Twelve  days  after,  the  travellers  came  to  the  noith- 
east  end  of  Lake  'Ngami,  and  it  was  on  1st  August  1849 
that  this  fine  sheet  of  water  was  beheld  for  the  first  time 
by  Europeans.  It  was  of  such  magnitude  that  they 
could  not  see  the  farther  shore,  and  they  could  only 
guess  its  size  from  the  reports  of  the  natives  that  it  took 
three  days  to  go  round  it, 

Lechulatebe,  the  chief  who  had  sent  him  the  invita- 
tion, was  quite  a  young  man,  and  his  reception  by  no 
means  corresponded  to  what  the  invitation  implied.  He 
had  no  idea  of  Livingstone  going  on  to  Sebituane,  who 
lived  two  hundred  miles  fai-ther  north,  and  perhaps 
sujjplying  him  with  fire-arms  which  would  make  him  a 
more  dano-erous  neigfhbour.  He  therefore  refused  Livins'- 
stone  guides  to  Sebituane,  and  sent  men  to  prevent  him 
from  crossino-  the  river.  Livino-stone  was  not  to  be  balked, 
and  worked  many  hours  in  the  river  trying  to  make  a  raft 
out  of  some  rotten  wood, — at  the  imminent  risk  of  his  life, 
as  he  afterwards  found,  for  the  Zouga  abounds  with  alliga- 
tors. The  season  was  now  far  advanced,  and  as  Mr.  Oswell 
volunteered  to  go  dowai  to  the  Cape  and  bring  up  a  boat 
next  year,  the  expedition  was  abandoned  for  the  time. 

Returning  home  by  the  Zouga,  they  had  better  oppor- 
tunity to  mark  the  extraordinary  richness  of  the  country, 
and  the  abundance  and  luxuriance  of  its  products,  both 
animal  and  vegetable.  Elephants  existed  in  crowds, 
and  ivory  was  so  abundant  that  a  trader  was  purchasing- 
it  at  the  rate  of  ten  tusks  for  a  musket  worth   fifteen 

^  Missionary  Travels,  p.  Go, 


I02  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  vi. 

shillings.     Two  years  later,  after  effect  had  been  given  to 
Livingstone's  discovery,  the  jDrice  had  risen  very  greatly. 
Writing  to  his  friend  Watt,  he  dwells  with  delight 
on  the  river  Zoiiga  : — 

"  It  is  a  glorious  river  ;  you  never  saw  anything  so  grand.  The 
banks  are  extremely  beautiful,  lined  with  gigantic  trees,  many 
quite  new.  One  bore  a  fruit  a  foot  in  length  and  three  inches  in 
diameter.  Another  measured  seventy  feet  in  circumference.  Ajjart 
from  the  branches  it  looked  like  a  mass  of  granite ;  and  then  the 
Bakoba  in  their  canoes — did  I  not  enjoy  sailing  in  them  %  Kemember 
how  long  I  have  been  in  a  parched-up  land,  and  answer.  The  Bakoba 
are  a  fine  frank  race  of  men,  and  seem  to  understand  the  message  better 
than  any  people  to  whom  I  have  spoken  on  Divine  subjects  for  the 
first  time.  What  think  you  of  a  navigable  highway  into  a  large 
section  of  the  interior  %  yet  that  the  Tamanak'le  is.  .  .  .  Who  will 
go  into  that  goodly  land  %  Who  %  Is  it  not  the  Niger  of  this  part  of 
Africa  1  ...  I  greatly  enjoyed  sailing  in  their  canoes,  rude  enough 
things,  hollowed  out  of  the  trunks  of  single  trees,  and  visiting  the 
villaires  alon"'  the  Zouga.  I  felt  but  little  Avhen  I  looked  on  the  lake; 
but  the  Zouga  and  Tamanak'le  awakened  emotions  not  to  be  described. 
I  hope  to  go  up  the  latter  next  year." 

The  discovery  of  the  lake  and  the  river  was  communi- 
cated to  the  Royal  Geographical  Society  in  extracts  from 
Livingstone's  letters  to  the  London  Missionary  Society,  \ 
and  to  his  friend  and  former  fellow-traveller,  Captain 
Steele.  In  1849  the  Society  voted  him  a  sum  of  twenty- 
five  guineas  ''for  his  successful  journey,  in  company  with 
Messrs.  Oswell  and  Murray,  across  the  South  African 
desert,  for  the  discovery  of  an  interesting  country,  a  fine 
/river,  and  an  extensive  inland  lake."  In  addressmg  Dr. 
Tidman  and  Alderman  Challis,  who  represented  the 
London  Missionary  Society,  the  President  (the  late  Cap- 
tain, afterwards  Rear- Admiral,  W.  Smyth,  R.N.,  who 
distinguished  himself  in  early  life  by  his  journey  across 
the  Andes  to  Lima,  and  thence  to  the  Atlantic),  adverted 
to  the  value  of  the  discoveries  in  themselves,  and  in  the 
influence  they  would  have  on  the  regions  beyond.  He 
spoke  also  of  the  help  which  Livingstone  had  derived  as 
an    explorer   from    his  influence  as   a  missionary.      The 


1 849-5 2- J  KOLOBENG—LAKE  'NGAML  103 

journey  he  had  performed  successfully  had  hitherto  baffled 
the  best-furnished  travellers.  In  1834,  an  expedition 
under  Dr.  Andrew  Smith,  the  largest  and  best-appointed 
that  ever  left  Cape  To\^ti,  had  gone  as  far  as  23°  south 
latitude  ;  but  that  proved  to  be  the  utmost  distance  they 
could  reach,  and  they  were  compelled  to  return.  Captain 
Sir  James  E.  Alexander,  the  only  scientific  traveller 
subsequently  sent  out  from  England  by  the  Geographical 
Society,  in  despair  of  the  lake,  and  of  discovery  by  the  oft- 
tried  eastern  route,  explored  the  neighbourhood  of  the 
western  coast  instead.^  The  President  frankly  ascribed 
Livingstone's  success  to  the  influence  he  had  acquired  as  a 
missionary  among  the  natives,  and  Livingstone  thoroughly 
believed  this.  "  The  lake,"  he  wrote  to  his  friend  Watt, 
"  belongs  to  missionary  enterprise."  "  Only  last  year," 
he  subsequently  wrote  to  the  Geographical  Society,  "a 
party  of  engineers,  in  about  thirty  wagons,  made  many 
and  persevering  efforts  to  cross  the  desert  at  different 
points,  but  though  inured  to  the  cHmate,  and  stimulated 
by  the  prospect  of  gain  from  the  ivory  they  expected  to 
procure,  they  were  compelled,  for  want  of  water,  to  give 
up  the  undertaking."  The  year  after  Livingstone's  first 
visit,  Mr.  Francis  Galton  tried,  but  failed,  to  reach  the 
lake,  thoaofh  he  was  so  successful  in  other  directions  as  to 
obtain  the  Society's  gold  medal  in  1852. 

Livmgstone  was  evidently  gratified  at  the  honour 
paid  him,  and  the  reception  of  the  twenty-five  guineas 
from  the  Queen.  But  the  gift  had  also  a  comical  side. 
It  carried  him  back  to  the  days  of  his  Radical  youth,  when 
he  and  his  friends  used  to  criticise  pretty  sharply  the 
destination  of  the  nation's  money.  "The  Royal  Geogra- 
phical Society,"  he  writes  to  his  parents  (4th  December 
1850),  "have  awarded  twenty-five  gumeas  for  the  discovery 
of  the  lake.  It  is  from  the  Queen.  You  must  be  very 
loyal,  all  of  you.      Next  time  she  comes  your  way,  shout 

^  Journal  of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society,  vol.  xx.  p.  xxviii. 


I04  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  vi. 

till  you  are  hoarse.     Oh  you  Radicals,  don't  be  thinking 
it  came  out  of  your  pockets  !     Long  live  Victoria  !"^ 

Defeated  in  his  endeavour  to>reach  Sebituane  in  1849, 
Li\'ingstone,  the  following  season,  put  in  practice  his 
favourite  maxim — "  Try  again."  He  left  Kolobeng  in 
April  1850,  and  this  time  he  was  accompanied  by  Sechele, 
Mebalwe,  twenty  Bakwains,  Mrs.  Livingstone,  and.  their 
whole  troop  of  infantry,  which  now  amounted  to  three. 
Travellino-  in  the  charmino-  climate  of  South  Africa  in  the 
roomy  wagon,  at  the  pace  of  two  miles  and  a  half  an 
hour,  is  not  like  travelling  at  home  ;  but  it  was  a  proof  of 
Livingstone's  great  unwillingness  to  be  separated  from 
his  family,  tliat  he  took  them  with  him,  notwithstanding 
the  risk  of  mosquitos,  fever,  and  want  of  water.  The 
people  of  Kolobeng  were  so  engrossed  at  the  time  with 
their  employments,  that  till  harvest  w^as  over,  little  mis- 
sionary work  could  be  done. 

The  journey  was  difficult,  and  on  the  northern  branch 
of  the  Zouga  many  trees  had  to  be  cut  down  to  allow  the 
wagons  to  pass.  The  presence  of  a  formidable  enemy 
"w^as  reported  on  the  banks  of  the  Tamanak'le, — the  tsetse- 
fly,  whose  bite  is  so  fatal  to  oxen.  To  avoid  it,  another 
route  had  to  be  chosen.  When  they  got  near  the  lake, 
it  was  found  that  fever  had  recently  attacked  a  party  of 
Englishmen,  one  of  whom  had  died,  wiiile  the  rest 
recovered  under  the  care  of  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Livingstone. 
Livingstone  took  his  family  to  have  a  peep  at  the  lake ; 
"the  children,"  he  wa^ote,  "took  to  playing  in  it  as  duck- 
lings do.  Paidling  in  it  w^as  great  fun."  Great  «fun  to 
them,  who  had  seen  little  enough  water  for  a  while ;  and 
in  a  quiet  way,  great  fun  to  their  father  too — his  owti 
children  "paidling"  in  his  own  lake!      He  was  begin- 

^  In  a  more  serious  vein  he  wrote  in  a  previous  letter  :  "  I  wonder  you  do  not  go 
to  see  the  Queen.  I  was  as  disloyal  as  others  when  in  England,  for  though  I 
might  have  seen  her  in  London,  I  never  went.  Do  you  ever  pray  for  her  ?"  This 
letter  is  dated  5th  February  ISoO,  and  must  have  been  written  before  he  heard  of 
the  prize. 


1S49-52]  KOLOBENG—LAKE  'NGAMI.  105 

ning  to  find  that  in  a  misslonaiy  point  of  view,  the  pre- 
sence of  his  wife  and  children  was  a  considerable  advan- 
tage ;  it  inspired  the  natives  with  confidence,  and  pro- 
moted tender  feelings  and  kind  relations.  The  chief, 
Lechulatebe,  was  at  last  propitiated  at  a  considerable 
sacrifice,  having  taken  a  fancy  to  a  valuable  rifle  of 
Livingstone's,  the  gift  of  a  friend,  which  could  not  be  re- 
placed. The  chief  vowed  that  if  he  got  it,  he  would  give 
Livingstone  everything  he  wished,  and  protect  and  feed 
his  wife  and  children  into  the  bargain,  while  he  went  on 
to  Sebituane.  Livingstone  at  once  handed  him  the  gun. 
"  It  is  of  great  consequence,"  he  said,  "  to  gain  the  con- 
fidence of  these  fellows  at  the  beginning."  It  w^as  his 
intention  that  Mrs.  Living-stone  and  the  children  should 
remain  at  Lechulatebe's  until  he  should  have  returned. 
But  the  scheme  was  upset  by  an  outburst  of  fever. 
Among  others,  two  of  the  children  were  attacked.  There 
was  no  help  but  to  go  home.  The  gun  was  left  behind 
in  the  hope  that  ere  long  Livingstone  would  get  back  to 
clahn  the  fulfilment  of  the  chiefs  promise.  It  was  plain 
that  the  neighbouiliood  of  the  lake  was  not  habitable  by 
Europeans.  Hence  a  fresh  confirmation  of  his  views  as 
to  the  need  of  native  agency,  if  intertropical  Africa  was 
ever  to  be  Christianised. 

But  Livinofstone  was  convinced  that  there  must  be  a 
healthier  spot  to  the  north.  Writing  to  Mr.  Watt  {18th 
August  1850),  he  not  only  expresses  this  conviction,  but 
gives  the  ground  on  which  it  rested.  The  extract  which 
we  subjoin  gives  a  glimpse  of  the  sagacity  that  from 
apparently  little  things  drew  great  conclusions  ;  but  more 
than  that,  it  indicates  the  birth  of  the  great  idea  that 
dominated  the  next  period  of  Livingstone's  life — the 
desire  and  determination  to  find  a  passage  to  the  sea, 
either  on  the  east  or  west  coast : — 

*'  A  more  salubrious  climate  must  exist  farther  up  to  the  north,  and 
that  the  country  is  higher,  seems  evident  from  the  fact  mentioned  by 


io6  £>A  VID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  vi. 

the  Bakoba,  that  the  water  of  the  Teoge,  the  river  that  ftills  into  the 
'Ngami  at  the  north-west  point  of  it,  flows  with  great  rapidity. 
Canoes  ascending,  punt  all  the  way,  and  the  men  must  hold  on  by 
reeds  in  order  to  prevent  their  being  carried  down  by  the  current. 
Large  trees,  spring-bucks  and  other  antelopes,  are  sometimes  brought 
down  by  it.  Do  you  wonder  at  my  pressing  on  in  the  way  Ave  have 
done  1  The  Bechuana  mission  has  been  carried  on  in  a  cul-de-sac.  I 
tried  to  break  through  by  going  among  the  Eastern  tribes,  but  the 
Boers  shut  up  that  field.  A  French  missionary,  Mr.  Fredoux,  of 
Motito,  tried  to  follow  on  my  trail  to  the  Bamangwato,  but  was  turned 
back  by  a  party  of  armed  Boers.  When  we  burst  through  the  barrier 
on  the  north,  it  appeared  very  plain  that  no  mission  could  be  success- 
ful there,  unless  we  could  get  a  well-watered  country  leaving  a  passage 
to  the  sea  on  either  the  east  or  west  coast.  This  project  I  am  almost 
afraid  to  meet,  but  nothing  else  will  do.  I  intend  (d.  v.)  to  go  in  next 
year  and  remain  a  twelvemonth.  My  wife,  poor  soul — I  pity  her ! — 
})roposed  to  let  me  go  for  that  time  while  she  remained  at  Kolobeng. 
You  will  pray  for  us  both  during  that  period." 

A  week  later  (August  24,  1850)  lie  writes  to  the 
Directors  that  no  convenient  access  to  the  region  can 
be  obtained  from  the  south,  the  lake  being  870  miles 
from  Kuruman : — 

"  We  must  have  a  passage  to  the  sea  on  either  the  eastern  or 
western  coast.  I  have  hitherto  been  afraid  to  broach  the  subject  on 
which  my  perhaps  dreamy  imagination  dwells.  You  at  home  are 
accustomed  to  look  on  a  project  as  half  finished  when  you  have 
received  the  co-operation  of  the  ladies.  My  better  half  has  promised 
me  a  twelvemonth's  leave  of  absence  for  mine.  AVithout  promising 
anything,  I  mean  to  follow  a  useful  motto  in  many  circumstances,  and 
Try  affain." 

On  returning  to  Kolobeng,  Mrs.  Livingstone  was  de- 
livered of  a  daughter — her  fourth  child.  An  epidemic  was 
raging  at  the  time,  and  the  child  was  seized  and  cut  off,  at 
the  age  of  six  weeks.  The  loss,  or  rather  the  removal, 
of  the  child,  affected  Livingstone  greatly.  "  It  was  the 
first  death  in  our  ftmiily,"  he  says  in  his  Journal,  "  but 
was  jast  as  likely  to  have  happened  had  we  remained  at 
home,  and  we  have  now  one  of  our  number  in  heaven." 

To  his  parents  he  writes  (4th  December  1850): — 

"  Our  last  child,  a  sweet  little  girl  with  blue  eyes,  was  taken  from 
us  to  join  the  company  of  the  redeemed,  through  the  merits  of  Him 


1849-52-]  KOLOBENG—LAKE  'NGAMI.  107 

of  whom  she  never  heard.  It  is  wonderful  how  soon  the  affections 
twine  round  a  little  stranger.  We  felt  her  loss  keenly.  tShe  was 
attacked  by  the  prevailing  sickness,  which  attacked  many  native 
children,  and  bore  up  under  it  for  a  fortnight.  We  could  not  apply 
remedies  to  one  so  young,  except  the  simplest.  She  uttered  a  piercing 
cvj,  previous  to  expiring,  and  then  went  away  to  see  the  King  in  His 
beauty,  and  the  land — the  glorious  land,  and  its  inhabitants.  Hers 
is  the  first  grave  in  all  that  country  marked  as  the  resting-place  of  one 
of  whom  it  is  believed  and  confessed  that  she  shall  live  again." 

Mrs.  Livingstone  had  an  attack  of  serious  illness, 
accompanied  by  paralysis  of  the  right  side  of  the  face, 
and  rest  being  essential  for  her,  the  family  went,  for  a 
time,  to  Kuruman.  Dr.  Livingstone  had  a  strong  desire 
to  go  to  the  Cape  for  the  excision  of  his  uvula,  which 
had  long  been  troublesome.  But,  with  characteristic 
self  denial,  he  put  his  own  case  out  of  view,  staying 
with  his  wife,  that  she  might  have  the  rest  and  atten- 
tion she  needed.  He  tried  to  persuade  his  father-in-law 
to  perform  the  operation,  and,  under  his  direction,  Dr. 
Moffat  went  so  far  as  to  make  a  pau'  of  scissors  for  the 
purpose ;  but  his  courage,  so  well  tried  in  other  fields, 
was  not  equal  to  the  performance  of  such  a  surgical 
operation. 

Some  glimpses  of  Livingstone's  musings  at  this  time, 
showing,  among  other  things,  how  much  more  he  thought 
of  his  spiritual  than  his  Highland  ancestry,  occur  in  a 
letter  to  his  parents,  written  immediately  after  his  return 
from  his  second  visit  to  the  lake  (28th  July  1850). 
If  they  should  carry  out  their  project  of  emigration  to 
America,  they  would  have  an  interesting  family  gather- 
ing :— 

"  One,  however,  will  be  '  over  the  hills  and  far  away '  from  your 
happy  meeting.  The  meeting  which  we  hope  will  take  place  in 
Heaven,  will  be  unlike  a  family  one,  in  so  far  as  earthly  relationships 
are  concerned.  One  will  be  so  much  taken  up  in  looking  at  Jesus,  I 
don't  know  when  we  shall  be  disposed  to  sit  down  and  talk  about 
the  days  of  lang  syne.  And  then  there  will  be  so  many  notables 
whom  we  should  like  to  notice  and  shake  hands  with — Luke,  for 
instance,  the  beloved  physician,  and  Jeremiah,  and  old  Job,  and  Noah, 


io8  DA  VID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  vi. 

and  Enoch,  that  if  you  are  wise,  you  will  make  the  most  of  your  union 
while  you  are  together,  and  not  fail  to  write  me  fully,  while  you  have 
the  opportunity  here.  .  .  . 

"  Charles  thinks  we  are  not  the  descendants  of  the  Puritans.  I 
don't  know  what  you  are,  but  I  am.  And  if  you  dispute  it,  I  shall 
stick  to  the  answer  of  a  poor  little  boy  before  a  magistrate.  M.  '  Who 
were  your  parents  % '  Boj/  (rubbing  his  eyes  with  his  jacket-sleeve), 
'  Never  had  none,  sir.'  ])r.  Wardlaw  says  that  the  Scotch  Indepen- 
dents are  the  descendants  of  the  Puritans,  and  I  suj^pose  the  pedigree 
is  through  Rowland  Hill  and  Whitefield.  But  I  was  a  member  of  the 
very  church  in  which  John  Howe,  the  chaplain  of  Oliver  Cromwell, 
preached,  and  exercised  the  pastorate.  I  was  ordained  too  by  English 
Independents.  Moreover,  I  am  a  Doctor  too.  Agnes  and  Janet,  get 
up  this  moment  and  curtsy  to  his  Reverence  !  John  and  Charles, 
rememl)er  the  dream  of  the  sheaves !  /  descended  from  kilts  and 
Donald  Dhu's  1     Na,  na,  I  won't  believe  it. 

"  We  have  a  difficult,  difficult  field  to  cultivate  here.  All  I  can 
say  is,  that  I  think  knowledge  is  increasing.  But  for  the  belief 
that  the  Holy  Spirit  works,  and  will  work  for  us,  I  should  give 
up  in  despair.  Remember  us  in  your  prayers,  that  we  grow  not 
weary  in  well-doing.  It  is  hard  to  work  for  years  with  pure  motives, 
and  all  the  time  be  looked  on  by  most  of  those  to  whom  our  lives  are 
devoted,  as  having  some  sinister  object  in  view.  Disinterested  labour 
— benevolence — is  so  out  of  their  line  of  thought,  that  many  look  upon 
us  as  having  some  ulterior  object  in  view.  But  He  who  died  for  us, 
and  whom  we  ought  to  copy,  did  more  for  us  than  we  can  do  for  any 
one  else.  He  endured  the  contradiction  of  sinners.  May  we  have 
grace  to  follow  in  His  steps !  " 

The  third,  and  at  last  successful,  effort  to  reach 
Sebituane,  was  made  in  April  1851.  Livingstone  was 
again  accompanied  by  his  family,  and  by  Mr  Oswell. 
He  left  Kolobeng  with  the  intention  not  to  return,  at 
least  not  immediately,  but  to  settle  with  his  family  in 
such  a  spot  as  might  be  found  advantageous,  in  the  hilly 
region,  of  whose  existence  he  was  assured.  They  found 
the  desert  drier  than  ever,  no  rain  having  fallen  through- 
out an  immense  extent  of  territory.  To  the  kindness  of 
Mr.  Oswell  the  f)arty  was  indebted  for  most  valuable 
assistance  in  procuring  water,  wells  having  been  dug  or 
cleared  by  his  people  beforehand  at  various  places,  and 
at  one  place  at  the  hazard  of  Mr.  Oswell's  life,  under  an 
attack  from  an  infuriated  lioness.     In  his  private  Journal, 


1849-52.]  KOLOBENG—LAKE  'NGAML  109 

and  in  his  letters  to  home,  Livina^stone  ao-ain  and  ao-ain 
acknowledges  with  deepest  gratitude  the  numberless  acts 
of  kindness  done  by  Mr.  Oswell  to  him  and  his  family, 
and  often  adds  the  prayer  that  God  w^ould  reward  him, 
and  of  His  grace  give  him  the  highest  of  all  blessings. 
"  Though  I  cannot  rejDay,  I  may  record  with  gratitude 
his  kindness,  so  that,  if  spared  to  look  upon  these,  my 
private  memoranda,  in  future  years,  proper  emotions  may 
ascend  to  Him  who  inclined  his  heart  to  show  so  much 
friendshij)." 

The  party  followed  the  old  route,  around  the  bed  of 
the  Zouga,  then  crossed  a  piece  of  the  driest  desert  they 
had  ever  seen,  with  not  an  insect  or  a  bhd  to  break  the 
stillness.  On  the  third  day  a  bird  chirped  in  a  bush, 
w^ien  the  dog  began  to  bark !  Shobo,  their  guide,  a 
Bushman,  lost  his  way,  and  for  four  days  they  were 
absolutely  without  water.  In  his  Missionarij  Travels, 
Livingstone  records  quietly,  as  was  his  wont,  his  terrible 
anxiety  about  his  children  : — 

"The  supply  of  water  in  the  wagons  had  been  wasted  by  one  of 
our  servants,  and  by  the  afternoon  only  a  small  portion  remained  for 
the  children.  This  was  a  bitterly  anxious  night ;  and  next  morning, 
the  less  tliere  was  of  water,  the  more  thirsty  the  little  rogues  became. 
The  idea  of  their  perishing  before  our  eyes  was  terrible ;  it  would 
almost  have  been  a  relief  to  me  to  have  been  reproached  with  being 
the  entire  cause  of  the  catastrophe,  but  not  one  syllable  of  upbraiding 
was  uttered  by  their  mother,  though  the  tearful  eye  told  the  agony 
within.  Tn  the  afternoon  of  the  fifth  day,  to  our  inexpressible  relief, 
some  of  the  men  returned  with  a  supply  of  that  fluid  of  which  Ave  had 
never  before  felt  the  true  value." 

"No  one,"  he  remarks  in  his  Journal,  "knows  the  value  of  water 
till  he  is  deprived  of  it.  We  never  need  any  spirits  to  qualify  it,  or 
prevent  an  immense  draught  of  it  from  doing  us  harm.  1  have  drunk 
Avater  swarming  Avith  insects,  thick  Avith  mud,  putrid  from  other 
mixtures,  and  no  stinted  draughts  of  it  either,  yet  never  felt  ainy 
inconvenience  from  it." 

"  My  opinion  is,"  he  said  on  another  occasion,  "  that  the  most 
severe  labours  and  privations  may  be  undergone  Avithout  alcoholic 
stimulus,  because  those  Avho  have  endured  the  most  had  nothiug  els3 
but  Avater,  and  not  ahvays  enough  of  that." 


J 


no  DA  VI D  L I VINGS2 ONE.  [chap.  vi. 

One  of  the  great  chaiTQs  of  Livingstone's  character, 
and  one  of  the  secrets  of  his  power — his  personal  interest 
in  each  individual,  however  humble — appeared  in  connec- 
tion with  Shobo,  the  Bushman  guide,  who  misled  them 
and  took  the  blunder  so  coolly.  "  What  a  wonderful 
people,"  he  says  in  his  Journal,  "  the  Bushmen  are ! 
always  merry  and  laughing,  and  never  telling  lies 
wantonly  like  the  Bechuana.  They  have  more  of  the 
appearance  of  worship  than  any  of  the  Bechuana.  When 
will  these  dwellers  in  the  wilderness  bow  down  before 
their  Lord  ?  No  man  seems  to  care  for  the  Bushman's 
soul.  I  often  wished  I  knew  their  language,  but  never 
more  than  when  we  travelled  with  our  Bushman  guide, 
Shobo." 

Livingstone  had  given  a  fair  trial  to  the  experiment 
of  travelling  along  with  his  family.  In  one  of  his  letters 
at  this  time  he  speaks  of  the  extraordinary  pain  caused 
by  the  mosquitos  of  those  parts,  and  of  his  children 
being  so  covered  with  their  bites,  that  not  a  square  inch 
of  whole  skin  was  to  be  found  on  their  bodies.  It  is  no 
wonder  thjit  he  gave  up  the  idea  of  carrying  them  with 
him  in  the  more  extended  journey  he  was  now  contem- 
plating. He  could  not  leave  them  at  Kolobeng,  exposed 
to  the  raids  of  the  Boers ;  to  Kuruman  there  were  also 
invincible  objections  ;  the  only  possible  plan  was  to  send 
them  to  England,  though  he  hoped  that  when  he  got 
settled  in  some  suitable  part  of  Sebituane's  dominions, 
with  a  free  road  to  the  sea,  they  would  return  to  him, 
and  help  him  to  bring  the  people  to  Christ. 

In  the  Missionary  Travels  Livingstone  has  given  a 
full  account  of  Sebituane,  chief  of  the  Makololo,  "unques- 
tionably the  greatest  man  in  all  that  country " — his 
remarkable  career,  his  wonderful  warlike  exploits  (for 
which  he  could  always  bring  forward  justifying  reasons), 
his  interesting  and  attractive  character,  and  wide  and 
powerful  influence.     In  one  thing  Sebituane  was  very  like 


1849-52.]  KOLOBENG—LAKE  'NGAMI.  11 1 

Livingstone  himself;  he  had  the  art  of  gaining  the 
affections  both  of  his  own  people  and  of  strangers.  When 
a  party  of  poor  men  came  to  his  town,  to  sell  hoes  or  skins 
he  would  sit  down  among  them,  talk  freely  and  pleasantly 
to  them,  and  probably  cause  some  lordly  dish  to  be 
brought,  and  give  them  a  feast  on  it,  perhaps  the  first 
they  had  ever  shared.  Delighted  beyond  measure  with 
his  affability  and  liberality,  they  felt  their  hearts  warm 
towards  him  ;  and  as  he  never  allowed  a  party  of  strangers 
to  go  away  without  giving  every  one  of  them — servants 
and  all — a  present,  his  praises  were  sounded  far  and  wide. 
"  He  has  a  heart !  he  is  wise  !"  were  the  usual  expressions 
Livingstone  heard  before  he  saw  him. 

Sebituane  received  Livingstone  with  great  kindness, 
for  it  had  been  one  of  the  dreams  of  his  life  to  have 
intercourse  with  the  white  man.  He  placed  full  con- 
fidence in  him  from  the  beginning,  and  was  ready  to  give 
him  everything  he  might  need.  On  the  first  Sunday 
when  the  usual  service  was  held  he  was  present,  and 
Livingstone  was  very  thankful  that  he  was  there,  for  it 
turned  out  to  be  the  only  proclamation  of  the  gospel  he 
ever  heard.  For  just  after  realising  what  he  had  so  long 
and  ardently  desired,  he  was  seized  with  severe  inflam- 
mation of  the  lungs,  and  died  after  a  fortnight's  illness. 
Livingstone,  being  a  stranger,  feared  to  prescribe,  lest,  in 
the  event  of  his  death,  he  should  be  accused  of  having 
caused  it.  On  visiting  him,  and  seeing  that  he  was  dying, 
he  spoke  a  few  words  respecting  hope  after  death.  But 
being  checked  by  the  attendants  for  introducing  the 
subject,  he  could  only  commend  his  soul  to  God.  The 
last  words  of  Sebituane  were  words  of  kindness  to  Living- 
stone's son  :  "  Take  him  to  Maunku  (one  of  his  wives) 
and  tell  her  to  give  him  some  milk."  Livingstone  was 
deeply  affected  by  his  death.  A  deeper  sense  of  brother- 
hood, a  warmer  glow  of  affection  had  been  kindled  in  his 
heart   towards    Sebituane    than    had    seemed    possible. 


112  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  vi. 

With  his  very  tender  conscience  and  deep  sense  of 
spiritual  reaUties,  Livingstone  was  afraid,  as  in  the  case 
of  Sehamy  eight  years  before,  that  he  had  not  spoken  to 
him  so  pointedly  as  he  might  have  done.  It  is  awfully 
affecting  to  follow  him  into  the  unseen  world,  of  which  he 
had  heard  for  the  first  time  just  before  he  was  called 
away.  In  his  Journal,  Livingstone  gives  way  to  his 
feelings  as  he  very  seldom  allowed  himself  to  do.  His 
words  bring  to  mind  David's  lament  for  Jonathan  or  for 
Absalom,  although  he  had  known  Sebituane  less  than  a 
month,  and  he  was  one  of  the  race  whom  many  Boers  and 
slave-stealers  regarded  as  having  no  souls  : — 

"  Poor  Sebituane,  my  heart  bleeds  for  thee  ;  and  what  Avould  I  not 
do  for  thee  now  1  I  Avill  weep  for  thee  till  the  day  of  my  death. 
Little  didst  thou  think  when,  in  the  visit  of  the  Avhite  man,  thou 
8awest  the  long  cherished  desires  of  years  accomplished,  that  the  sen- 
tence of  death  had  gone  forth  !  Thou  thouglitest  that  thou  shouldest 
procure  a  weapon  from  the  white  man  which  Avould  be  a  shield  from 
the  attacks  of  the  fierce  Matebele  ;  but  a  more  deadly  dart  than  theirs 
Avas  aimed  at  thee ;  and  though  thou  couldest  well  ward  off  a  dart — 
none  ever  better — thou  didst  not  see  that  of  the  king  of  terrors.  I 
will  weep  for  thee,  my  brother,  and  I  would  cast  forth  my  sorrows  in 
despair  for  thy  condition  !  But  I  know  that  thou  wilt  receive  no 
injustice  whither  thou  art  gone  ;  '  Shall  not  the  Judge  of  all  the  earth 
do  right  V  I  leave  thee  to  Him.  Alas  !  alas  !  Sebituane.  I  might 
have  said  more  to  him.  God  forgive  me.  Free  me  from  blood-guilti- 
ness. If  I  had  said  more  of  death  I  might  have  been  suspected  as 
having  foreseen  the  event,  and  as  guilty  of  bewitching  him.  1  might 
have  recommended  Jesus  and  His  great  atonement  more.  It  is, 
however,  very  difficult  to  break  through  the  thick  crust  of  ignorance 
which  envelops  their  minds." 

The  death  of  Sebituane  was  a  great  blow  in  another 
sense.  The  region  over  which  his  influence  extended  was 
immense,  and  he  had  promised  to  show  it  to  Livingstone 
and  to  select  a  suitable  locality  for  his  residence.  This 
heathen  chief  would  have  given  to  Christ's  servant  what 
the  Boers  refused  him  !  Livingstone  would  have  had  his 
wish — an  entirely  new  country  to  work  upon,  where  the 
name  of  Christ  had  never  yet  been  spoken.  So  at  least 
he  thought.       Sebituane's  successor  in  the  chiefdom  was 


1 849-5  2-]  KOLOBENG—LAKE  'NGAMI.  113 

his  daughter,  Ma-mochisane.  From  her  he  received  liberty 
to  visit  any  part  of  the  country  he  chose.  While  waiting 
for  a  ref)ly  (she  was  residing  at  a  distance),  he  one  day 
fell  into  a  great  danger  from  an  elephant  which  had  come 
on  him  unexpectedly.  "  We  were  startled  by  his  coming 
a  little  way  in  the  direction  in  which  we  were  standing, 
but  he  did  not  give  us  chase.  I  have  had  many  escapes. 
We  seem  immortal  till  our  work  is  done." 

Mr.  Oswell  and  he  then  proceeded  in  a  north-easterly 
direction,  passing  through  the  town  of  Linyanti,  and  on 
the  3d  of  August  they  came  on  the  beautiful  river 
at  Sesheke : — 

"We  thanked.  God  for  permitting  us  to  see  this  glorious  river. 
All  we  said  to  each  other  Avas  '  How  glorious  !  how  maguificent !  how 
beautiful!'  .  .  .  In  crossing,  the  waves  lifted  up  the  canoe  and  made 
it  roll  beautifully.  The  scenery  of  the  Firths  of  Forth  and  Clyde  was 
brought  vividly  to  my  view,  and  had  I  been  fond  of  indulging  in 
sentimental  effusions,  my  lachrymal  apparatus  seemed  fully  charged. 
But  then  the  old  man  who  was  conducting  us  across  might  have  said, 
'  What  on  earth  are  you  blubbering  for  %  Afraid  of  these  crocodiles, 
eh  1'  The  little  sentimentality  which  exceeded  was  forced  to  take  its 
course  down  the  inside  of  the  nose.  We  have  other  Avork  in  this 
world  than  indulging  in  sentimentality  of  the  '  Sonnet  to  the  Mooii ' 
variety." 

The  river  which  went  here  by  the  name  of  Sesheke 
was  found  to  be  the  Zambesi,  which  had  not  previously 
been  known  to  exist  in  that  region.  In  Avriting  about  it 
to  his  brother  Charles,  he  says,  "  It  was  the  first  river  I 
ever  saw."  Its  discovery  in  this  locality  constituted  one 
of  the  great  geographical  feats  with  which  the  name  of 
Livingstone  is  connected.  He  heard  of  rapids  above,  and 
of  great  waterfalls  below  :  but  it  was  reserved  for  him  on 
a  future  visit  to  behold  the  great  Victoria  Falls,  which 
in  the  popular  imagination  have  filled  a  higher  place  than 
many  of  his  more  useful  discoveries. 

The  travellers  were  still  a  good  many  days'  distance 
from  Ma-mochisane,  without  Avhose  presence  nothing 
could  be   settled ;    but  besides,  the  reedy  banks  of  the 


114  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  vi. 

rivers  were  found  to  be  unsuitable  for  a  settlement,  and 
tlie  higlier  regions  were  too  much  exposed  to  the  attacks 
of  Mosilikatse.  Livingstone  saw  no  prospect  of  obtaining 
a  suitable  station,  and  with  great  reluctance  he  made  iip 
his  mind  to  retrace  the  weary  road,  and  return  to  Kolo- 
beng.  The  people  were  very  anxious  for  him  to  stay, 
and  offered  to  make  a  garden  for  him,  and  to  fulfil  Sebi- 
tuane's  promise  to  give  him  oxen  in  return  for  those 
killed  by  the  tsetse. 

Setting  out  with  the  wagons  on  13th  August  1851, 
the  party  proceeded  slowly  homewards.  On  15th 
September  1851  Livingstone's  Journal  has  this  unex- 
pected and  simple  entry  :  "  A  son,  William  Oswell  Living- 
ston,'^ born  at  a  place  we  always  call  Bellevue."  On  the 
18th:  "Thomas  attacked  by  fever;  removed  a  few 
miles  to  a  high  part  on  his  account.  Thomas  was  seized 
with  fever  three  times  at  about  an  interval  of  a  fort- 
night." Not  a  word  about  Mrs.  Livingstone,  but  three 
pages  of  observations  about  medical  treatment  of  fever, 
thunderstorms,  constitutions  of  Indian  and  African 
people,  leanness  of  the  game,  letter  received  from 
Directors  approving  generally  of  his  course,  a  gold  watch 
sent  by  Captain  Steele,  and  Gordon  Cumming's  book,  "  a 
miserably  poor  thing."  Amazed,  v^e  ask.  Had  Living- 
stone any  heart  ?  But  ere  long  we  come  upon  a  copy 
of  a  letter,  and  some  remarks  connected  with  it,  that 
give  us  an  impression  of  the  depth  and  strength  of 
his  nature,  unsurpassed  by  anything  that  has  yet  oc- 
curred. 

"  The  following  extracts,"  he  says,  "  show  in  w^hat 
light  our  efforts  are  regarded  by  those  wdio,  as  much  as 
we  do,  desire  that  the  'gospel  may  be  preached  to  all 
nations.'  "     Then  follows  a  copy  of  a  letter  which  had  been 

^  He  had  intended  to  call  him  Charles,  and  announced  this  to  his  father  ;  but, 
finding  that  Mr.  Oswell,  to  whom  he  was  so  much  indebted,  would  be  jjleased 
with  the  compliment,  he  changed  his  purpose  and  the  name  accoi'dingly. 


1849-52-]  KOLOBENG—LAKE  'NGAMI.  115 

addressed  to  him  before  they  set  out  by  Mrs.  Moffat, 
his  mother-in-law,  remonstrating  in  the  strongest  terms 
against  his  plan  of  taking  his  wife  with  him ;  reminding 
him  of  the  death  of  the  child,  and  other  sad  occurrences 
of  last  year ;  and,  in  the  name  of  everything  that  was 
just,  kind,  and  even  decent,  beseeching  him  to  abandon 
an  arrangement  which  all  the  world  would  condemn. 
Another  letter  from  the  same  writer  informed  him  that 
much  prayer  had  been  offered  that,  if  the  arrangements 
were  not  in  accordance  with  Christian  propriety,  he  might 
in  great  mercy  be  prevented  by  some  dispensation  of 
Providence  from  carrying  them  out.  Mrs.  Moffat  was  a 
woman  of  the  hiofhest  Drifts  and  character,  and  full  of 
admiration  for  Livincfstone.  The  insertion  of  these  letters 
in  his  Journal  shows  that,  in  carrying  out  his  plan,  the 
objections  to  which  it  was  liable  were  before  his  mind  in 
the  strongest  conceivable  form.  No  man  who  knows 
what  Livingstone  was  will  imaofine  for  a  moment  that 
he  had  not  the  most  tender  regard  for  the  health,  the 
comfort,  and  the  feelings  of  his  wife ;  in  matters  of  deli- 
cacy he  had  the  most  scrupulous  regard  to  propriety ;  his 
resolution  to  take  her  with  him  must,  therefore,  have 
sprung  from  something  far  stronger  than  even  his  affec- 
tion for  her.      What  was  this  stronger  force  ? 

It  was  his  inviolable  sense  of  duty,  and  his  indefeas- 
ible conviction  that  his  Father  in  heaven  would  not 
forsake  him  whilst  pursuing  a  course  in  obedience  to  His 
will,  and  designed  to  advance  the  welfare  of  His  children. 
As  this  furnishes  the  key  to  Livingstone's  future  life,  and 
the  answer  to  one  of  the  most  serious  objections  ever 
brought  against  it,  it  is  right  to  spend  a  little  time  in 
elucidating  the  principles  by  which  he  was  guided. 

There  was  a  saying  of  the  late  Sir  Herbert  Edwardes 
which  he  highly  valued  :  "  He  who  has  to  act  on  his  own 
responsibility  is  a  slave  if  he  does  not  act  on  his  own 
judgment."     Acting   on   this  maxim,  he  must  set  aside 


ii6  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  vi. 

the  views  of  others  as  to  liis  duty,  provided  his  own 
judgment  was  clear  regarding  it.  He  must  even  set  aside 
the  feehngs  and  apparent  interest  of  those  dearest  to  him, 
because  duty  was  above  everything  else.  His  faith  in 
God  convinced  him  that,  in  the  long-run,  it  could  never 
be  the  worse  for  him  and  his  that  he  had  firmly  done  his 
duty.  All  true  faith  has  in  it  an  element  of  venture,  and 
in  Livingstone's  faith  this  element  was  strong.  Trusting 
God,  he  could  expose  to  venture  even  the  health,  comfort, 
and  welfare  of  his  wife  and  children.  He  was  convinced 
that  it  was  his  duty  to  go  forth  mth  them  and  seek  a 
new  station  for  the  gospel  in  Sebituane's  country.  If  this 
was  true,  God  would  take  care  of  them,  and  it  was 
"better  to  trust  in  the  Lord  than  to  put  confidence  in 
man."  People  thoughtlessly  acciTsed  him  of  making  light 
of  the  interests  of  his  family.  No  man  suffered  keener 
pangs  from  the  course  he  had  to  follow  concerning  them, 
and  no  man  pondered  more  deeply  what  duty  to  them 
requu'ed. 

But  to  do  all  this,  Livingstone  must  have  had  a  very 
clear  perception  of  the  course  of  duty.  This  is  true. 
But  how  did  he  get  this  ?  First,  his  singleness  of  heart, 
so  to  speak,  attracted  the  light :  "If  thine  eye  be  single, 
thy  whole  body  shall  be  full  of  light."  Then,  he  was 
very  clear  and  very  minute  in  his  prayers.  Further, 
he  was  most  careful  to  scan  all  the  providential  indica- 
tions that  might  throw  light  on  the  Divine  will.  And 
when  he  had  been  carried  so  far  on  in  the  line  of  duty, 
he  had  a  strong  presumption  that  the  line  would  be 
continued,  and  that  he  would  not  be  called  to  turn 
back.  It  was  in  front,  not  in  rear,  that  he  expected 
to  find  the  pillar  of  cloud  and  the  pillar  of  fire.  In 
course  of  time,  this  hardened  into  a  strong  instinctive 
habit,  which  almost  dispensed  with  the  process  of 
reasoning. 

In   Dean  Stanley's  Sincd  and  Palestine   allusion  is 


1849-52.]  KOLOBENG—LAKE  'NGAMI.  117 

made  to  a  kindred  experience, — that  which  bore  Abraham 
from  Chaldea,  Moses  from  Egypt,  and  the  greater  part  of 
the  tribes  from  the  comfortable  pastures  of  Gilead  and 
Bashan  to  the  rugged  hill-country  of  Judah  and  Ephraim. 
Notwithstanding  all  the  attractions  of  the  richer  countries, 
they  were  borne  onwards  and  forwards,  not  knowing 
whither  they  went,  instinctively  feeling  that  they  were 
fulfilling  the  high  jDi-^^poses  to  which  they  were  called. 
In  the  later  part  of  Livingstone's  life,  the  necessity  of 
going  forward  to  the  close  of  the  career  that  had 
opened  for  him  seemed  to  settle  the  whole  question  of 
duty. 

But  at  this  earlier  stage,  he  had  been  conscientiously 
scrutinising  all  that  had  any  bearing  on  that  question  ; 
and  now  that  he  finds  himself  close  to  his  home,  and  can 
thank  God  for  the  safe  confinement  of  his  wife,  and  the 
health  of  the  new-born  child,  he  gathers  together  all  the 
providences  that  showed  that  in  this  journey,  which 
excited  such  horror  even  among  his  best  friends,  he  had 
after  all  been  following  the  guidance  of  his  Father. 
First,  in  the  matter  of  guides,  he  had  been  wonderfully 
helped,  notwithstanding  a  deep  plot  to  deprive  him  of 
any.  Then  there  was  the  sickness  of  Sekdmi,  whose 
interest  had  been  secured  through  his  going  to  see  him, 
and  prescribing  for  him ;  this  had  propitiated  one  of 
the  tribes.  The  services  of  Shobo  too,  and  the  selection 
of  the  northern  route,  proposed  by  Kamati,  had  been  of 
great  use.  Their  going  to  Sesheke,  and  theu^  detention 
for  two  months,  thus  allowing  them  time  to  collect  in- 
formation respecting  the  whole  country  ;  the  river  Chobe 
not  rising  at  its  usual  time ;  the  saving  of  Livingstone's 
oxen  from  the  tsetse,  notwithstanding  their  detention 
on  the  Zouga;  his  not  going  with  Mr.  Oswell  to  a  place 
where  the  tsetse  destroyed  many  of  the  oxen ;  the  better 
health  of  Mrs.  Livingstone  during  her  confinement  than 
in   any   previous    one ;    a  very  opportune  present   they 


ii8  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  vi. 

bad  g'ot,  just  before  lier  confinement,  of  two  bottles  of 
wine;^  tbe  approbation  of  tbe  Directors,  tbe  presenta- 
tion of  a  gold  watcli  by  Captain  Steele,  tbe  kind  atten- 
tions of  Mr.  Oswell,  and  tbe  cookery  of  one  of  tbeir 
native  servants  named  George ;  tbe  recovery  of  Tbomas, 
Tvbereas  at  Kuruman  a  cbild  bad  been  cut  off;  tbe 
commencement  of  tbe  rains,  just  as  tbey  were  leaving 
tbe  river,  and  tbe  request  of  Mr.  Oswell  tbat  tbey 
sbould  draw  upon  bim  for  as  mucb  money  as  tbey  sbould 
need,  were  all  among  tbe  indications  tbat  a  faitbful 
and  protecting  Fatber  in  beaven  bad  been  ordering  tbeir 
l^atb,  and  would  order  it  in  like  manner  in  all  time  to 
come. 

Writing  at  tbis  time  to  bis  fatber-in-law,  Mr.  Moffat, 
be  says,  after  announcing  tbe  birtb  of  Oswell : — "  Wbat 
you  say  about  difference  of  opinion  is  true.  In  my  past 
life,  I  bave  always  managed  to  tbink  for  myself,  and  act 
accordingly.  I  bave  occasionally  met  witb  people  wbo 
took  it  on  tbemselves  to  act  for  me,  and  tbey  bave  offered 
tbeir  tbougbts  witb  an  empbatic  '  I  tbink ; '  but  I  bave 
generally  excused  tbem  on  tbe  score  of  being  a  little 
soft-beaded  in  believing  tbey  could  tbink  botb  for  me 
and  tbemselves." 

Wbile  Kolobeng  was  Livingstone's  beadquarters,  a 
new  trouble  rose  upon  the  mission  borizon.  Tbe  Mako- 
lolo  (as  Sebituane's  people  were  called)  began  to  practise 
tbe  slave-trade.  It  arose  simply  from  tbeir  desu'e  to 
possess  guns.  For  eigbt  old  muskets  tbey  bad  given  to 
a  neigbbouring  tribe  eiglit  boys,  tbat  bad  been  taken 
from  tbeir  enemies  in  war,  being  tbe  only  article  for 
wbicb  tbe  guns  could  be  got.  Soon  after,  in  a  fray 
against  anotber  tribe,  two  bundred  captives  were  taken, 
and,  on  returning,  tbe  Makololo  met  some  Arab  traders 

*  In  writing  to  his  father,  Livingstone  mentions  that  the  Avine  was  a  gift  from 
Mrs.  Bysshe  Shelley,  in  acknowledgment  of  his  aid  in  repaii-ing  a  wheel  of  her 
A^agon. 


1849-52.]  KOLOBENG—LAKE  'NGAAl'l.  119 

from  Zanzibar,  who  for  three  muskets  received  about 
thirty  of  their  captives. 

Another  of  the  master  ideas  of  his  life  now  began  to 
take  hold  upon  Livingstone.  Africa  was  exposed  to  a 
terrible  evil  through  the  desire  of  the  natives  to  possess 
articles  of  European  manufacture,  and  their  readiness  for 
this  purpose  to  engage  in  the  slave-trade.  Though  no 
African  had  ever  been  known  to  sell  his  own  children 
into  captivity,  the  tribes  were  ready  enough  to  sell  other 
cliildi'en  that  had  fallen  into  their  hands  by  war  or  other- 
wise. But  if  a  legitunate  traffic  were  established  through 
which  they  might  obtain  whatever  European  goods  they 
desired  in  exchange  for  ivory  and  other  articles  of  native 
produce,  would  not  this  frightful  slave-trade  be  brought 
to  an  end  ?  The  idea  was  destined  to  receive  many  a 
confirmation  before  Livingstone  drew  his  last  breath  of 
African  air.  It  naturally  gave  a  great  impulse  to  the 
purpose  which  had  already  struck  its  roots  into  his  soul 
— to  find  a  road  to  the  sea  either  on  the  eastern  or  western 
coast.  Interests  wider  and  grander  than  even  the  plant- 
ing of  mission  statkms  on  the  territories  of  Sebituane  now 
rose  to  his  view.  (^/The  welfare  of  the  whole  contment, 
both  spiritual  and  temporal,  was  concerned  in  the  success 
of  this  plan  of  opening  new  channels  to  the  enterprise  of 
British  and  other  merchants,  always  eager  to  hear  of  new 
markets  for  their  goods.  By  driving  away  the  slave- 
trade,  much  would  be  done  to  prepare  the  way  for 
Christian  missions  which  could  not  thrive  in  an  atmo- 
sphere of  war  and  commotion.  An  idea  involving  issues 
so  vast  was  fitted  to  take  a  right  powerful  hold  on 
Livingstone's  heart,  and  make  him  feel  that  no  sacrifice 
could  be  too  great  to  be  encountered,  cheerfully  and 
patiently,  for  such  an  end. 

Writing  to  the  Directors  (October  1851)  he  says : — 

"  You  will  see  by  the  accompanying  sketch-map  what  an  immense 
region  God  in  His  grace  has  opened  up.     If  we  can  enter  in  and  form 


I20  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  vi. 

a,  settlement,  Ave  shall  be  able  in  the  course  of  a  very  few  5'ears  to  put 
a  stop  to  the  slave-trade  in  that  quarter.  It  is  probable  that  the 
mere  supply  of  English  manufactures  on  Sebituane's  part  will  effect 
this,  for  they  did  not  like  the  slave-trade,  and  promised  to  abstain. 
I  think  it  will  be  impossible  to  make  a  fair  commencement  unless  I 
can  secure  two  years  devoid  of  family  cares.  I  shall  be  obliged  to  go 
southward,  perhaps  to  the  Cape,  to  have  my  uvula  excised  and  my  arm 
mended  (the  latter  if  it  can  be  done  only).  It  has  occurred  to  me 
that,  as  we  must  send  our  children  to  England,  it  would  be  no  great 
additional  expense  to  send  them  now  along  with  their  mother.  This 
arrangement  Avould  enable  me  to  proceed,  and  devote  about  tAvo  or 
perhaps  three  j^ears  to  this  neAv  region  :  but  I  must  beg  your  sanction, 
and  if  you  please  let  it  be  given  or  withheld  as  soon  as  you  can  con- 
veniently, so  that  it  might  meet  me  at  the  Cape.  To  orphanise  my 
children  will  be  like  tearing  out  my  bowels,  but  Avhen  I  can  find  time 
to  write  you  fully  you  will  perceive  it  is  the  only  way,  except  giving 
up  that  region  altogether. 

"  Kuruman  Avill  not  answer  as  a  residence,  nor  yet  the  Colony.  If 
I  were  to  follow  my  own  inclinations  they  would  lead  me  to  settle 
down  quietly  with  the  Bakwains,  or  some  other  small  tribe,  and 
devote  some  of  my  time  to  my  children ;  but  Providence  seems  to  call 
me  to  the  regions  beyond,  and  if  I  leave  them  anywhere  in  this  country, 
it  will  be  to  let  them  become  heathens.  If  you  think  it  right  to  sup- 
port them,  I  believe  my  parents  in  Scotland  would  attend  to  them 
otherwise." 

Continuing  the  subject  in  a  more  leisurely  way  a  few 
weeks  later,  he  refers  to  the  very  great  increase  of  traffic 
that  had  taken  place  since  the  discovery  of  Lake  'Ngami 
two  years  before  ;  the  fondness  of  the  people  for  Euro- 
pean articles  ;  the  numerous  kinds  of  native  produce 
besides  ivory,  such  as  beeswax,  ostrich  feathers,  etc.,  of 
which  the  natives  made  little  or  no  use,  but  which  they 
would  take  care  of  if  regular  trade  were  established 
among  them.  He  thought  that  if  traders  were  to  come 
up  the  Zambesi  and  make  purchases  from  the  producers 
they  would  both  benefit  themselves  and  drive  the  slave- 
dealer  from  the  market.  It  might  be  useful  to  establish 
a  sanatorium,  to  ^^hich  missionaries  might  come  from  less 
healthy  districts  to  recruit.  This  would  diminish  the 
reluctance  of  missionaries  to  settle  in  the  interior.  For 
himself,  though  he  had  reared  three  stations  with  much 


1849-52.]  KOLOBEXG—LAKE  'NGAMI.  121 

bodily  labour  and  fatigue,  he  would  clieerfully  undergo 
mucb  more  if  a  new  station  would  answer  such  objects. 
In  referring  to  the  countries  drained  by  the  Zambesi,  he 
believed  he  w^as  speaking  of  a  large  section  of  the  slave- 
producing  region  of  Africa.  He  then  went  on  to  say 
that  to  a  certain  extent  their  hopes  had  been  disap- 
pointed ;  Mr.  Oswell  had  not  been  able  to  find  a  passage 
to  the  sea,  and  he  had  not  been  able  to  find  a  station  for 
missionary  work.  They  had  therefore  returned  together. 
"He  assisted  me,"  adds  Livingstone,  "in  every  ppssible 
way.     May  God  reward  him  !" 

In  regard  to  mission  work  for  the  future  an  important 
question  arose,  What  should  be  done  for  the  Bakwains  \ 
They  could  not  remain  at  Kolobeng — hunger  and  the 
Boers  decided  that  point.  Was  it  not  then  his  duty  to 
find  and  found  a  new  station  for  them  ?  Dr.  Livingstone 
thought  not.  He  had  always  told  them  that  he  would 
remain  with  them  only  for  a  few  years.  One  of  his  great 
ideas  on  missions  in  Africa  was  that  a  fair  trial  should  be 
given  to  as  many  places  as  possible,  and  if  the  trial  did 
not  succeed  the  missionaries  should  pass  on  to  other 
tribes.  He  had  a  great  aversion  to  the  common  impres- 
sion that  the  less  success  one  had  the  stronger  was  one's 
duty  to  remain.  Missionaries  were  only  too  ready  to 
settle  down  and  make  themselves  as  comfortable  as 
possible,  whereas  the  great  need  was  for  men  to  move  on, 
to  strike  out  into  the  regions  beyond,  to  go  into  all  the 
world.  He  had  far  more  sympathy  for  tribes  that  had 
never  heard  the  gospel  than  for  those  who  had  had  it  for 
years.  He  used  to  refer  to  certain  tribes  near  Griqualand 
that  had  got  a  little  instruction,  but  had  no  stated  mis- 
sionaries ;  they  used  to  send  some  of  their  people  to  the 
Griquas  to  learn  what  they  could,  and  afterwards  some 
others  ;  and  these  persons,  returning,  communicated  what 
they  knew,  till  a  wonderful  measure  of  knowledge  was 
acquired,  and  a  numerous  church  was  formed.     If  the 


J 


122  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  vi. 

seed  had  once  been  sown  in  any  place  it  would  not  remain 
dormant,  but  would  excite  the  desire  for  further  know- 
ledge ;  and  on  the  whole  it  would  be  better  for  the  people 
to  be  thrown  somewhat  on  their  own  resources  than  to 
have  everything  done  for  them  by  missionaries  from 
Europe.  In  regard  to  the  Bak wains,  though  they  had 
promised  well  at  first,  they  had  not  been  a  very  teachable 
people.  He  was  not  inclined  to  blame  them ;  they  had 
been  so  pinched  by  hunger  and  badgered  by  the  Boers 
that  they  could  not  attend  to  instruction;  or  rather, 
they  had  too  good  an  excuse  for  not  doing  so.  "I  have 
much  affection  for  them,"  he  says  in  his  Journal,  "  and 
though  I  pass  from  them  I  do  not  relinquish  the  hope 
that  they  will  yet  turn  to  Him  to  whose  mercy  and  love 
they  have  often  been  invited.  The  seed  of  the  living 
Word  will  not  perish." 

The  finger  of  Providence  clearly  pointed  to  a  region 
farther  north  in  the  country  of  the  Barotse  or  beyond  it. 
He  admitted  that  there  were  'pros  and  cons  in  the  case. 
Against  his  plan, — some  of  his  brethren  did  not  hesitate 
to  charge  him  with  being  actuated  by  worldly  ambition. 
This  was  the  more  trying,  for  sometimes  he  suspected  his 
own  motives.  Others  dwelt  on  what  was  due  to  his 
family.  Moreover,  his  own  predilections  were  all  for  a 
quiet  fife.  And  there  was  also  the  consideration,  that  as 
the  Directors  could  not  well  realise  the  distances  he  would 
have  to  travel  before  he  reached  the  field,  he  might 
appear  more  as  an  explorer  than  a  missionary.  On  the 
other  hand, — 

"  I  n,m  conscious,"  lie  says,  "  that  though  there  is  much  impurity  in 
my  motives,  they  are  in  the  main  for  the  glory  of  Him  to  whom  I  have 
devoted  myself.  I  never  anticipated  fame  from  the  discovery  of  the 
Lake.  I  cared  very  little  about  it,  but  the  sight  of  the  Tamanak'le,  and 
tlie  re^Dort  of  other  large  rivers  beyond,  all  densely  populated,  awakened 
many  and  entliusiastic  feelings.  .  .  .  Then,  again,  consider  the  multi- 
tude that  in  the  Providence  of  God  have  been  brought  to  light  in  the 
country  of  Sebituane ;  the  probability  that  in  our  efforts  to  evangelise 
we  shall  put  a  stop  to  the  slave-trade  in  a  large  region,  and  by  means 


1849-52.]  KOLOBENG—LAKE  'NGAMI.  123 

of  the  highway  into  the  North  whicli  we  have  discovered  bring  un- 
known nations  into  the  sympathies  of  the  Christian  Avorld.  If  I  were 
to  choose  my  work,  it  woukl  be  to  reduce  this  new  language,  translate 
the  Bible  into  it,  and  be  the  means  of  forming  a  small  church.  Let 
this  be  accomplished,  I  think  I  could  then  lie  down  and  die  con- 
tented. Two  years'  absence  will  be  necessary.  .  .  .  Nothing  but  a 
strong  conviction  that  the  step  will  lead  to  the  glory  of  Christ  would 
make  me  orphanise  my  children.  Even  now  my  bowels  j^earn  over 
them.  They  will  forget  me  ;  but  I  hope  when  the  day  of  trial  comes, 
I  shall  not  be  found  a  more  sorry  soldier  than  those  who  serve  an 
earthly  sovereign.  Should  you  not  feel  yourselves  justified  in  incur- 
ring the  expense  of  their  support  in  England,  I  shall  feel  called  upon 
to  renounce  the  hope  of  carrying  the  gospel  into  that  country,  and 
labour  among  those  who  live  in  a  more  healthy  country,  viz.,  the 
Bakwains.  But,  stay,  I  am  not  sure ;  so  powerfully  convinced  am  I 
that  it  is  the  will  of  our  Lord  I  should,  /  will  go,  no  matter  ivho  opposes  ; 
but  from  you  I  expect  nothing  but  encouragement.  I  know  you  wish 
as  ardently  as  I  can  that  all  the  world  may  be  filled  with  the  glory  of 
the  Lord.     I  feel  relieved  when  1  lay  the  whole  case  before  you." 

He  proposed  that  a  brother  missionary,  Mr.  Ashton, 
should  be  placed  among  the  Bamangwato,  a  people  who 
were  in  the  habit  of  spreading  themselves  through  the 
Bakalahari,  and  should  thus  form  a  link  between  himself 
and  the  brethren  in  the  south. 

In  a  postscript,  dated  Bamangwato,  14th  November, 
he  gratefully  acknowledges  a  letter  from  the  Directors, 
in  which  his  plans  are  approved  of  generally.  They  had 
recommended  him  to  complete  a  dictionary  of  the  Sichuana 
language.  This  he  would  have  been  delighted  to  do 
when  his  mind  was  full  of  the  subject,  but  with  the  new 
projects  now  before  him,  and  the  probability  of  having  to 
deal  with  a  new  language  for  the  Zambesi  district,  he 
could  not  undertake  such  a  work  at  present. 

In  a  subsequent  letter  to  the  Directors  (Cape  Town, 
17th  March  1852),  Livingstone  finds  it  necessary  to  go 
into  full  details  with  regard  to  his  finances.  Though  he 
writes  with  perfect  calmness,  it  is  evident  that  his  ex- 
chequer was  sadly  embarrassed.  In  fact,  he  had  already 
not  only  spent  all  the  salary  (£100)  of  1852,  but  fifty- 
seven  pounds  of  1853,  and  the  balance  would  be  absorbed 


124  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  vi. 

by  expenses  in  Cape  Town.  He  had  been  as  economical 
as  possible  ;  in  personal  expenditure  most  careful — he  had 
been  a  teetotaler  for  twenty  years.  He  did  not  hesitate 
to  express  his  conviction  that  the  salary  was  inadequate, 
and  to  urge  the  Directors  to  defray  the  extra  expenditure 
which  was  now  inevitable ;  but  with  characteristic 
generosity,  he  urged  Mr.  Moffat's  claims  much  more 
warmly  than  his  own. 

From  expressions  in  Livingstone's  letter  to  the 
Directors,  it  is  evident  that  he  was  fully  aware  of  the 
risk  he  ran,  in  his  new  line  of  work,  of  appearing  to  sink 
the  missionary  in  the  explorer.  There  is  no  doubt  that 
next  to  the  charge  of  forgetting  the  claims  of  his  family, 
to  which  we  have  already  adverted,  this  was  the  most 
plausible  of  the  objections  taken  to  his  subsequent  career. 
But  any  one  who  has  candidly  followed  his  course  of 
thouo'ht  and  feelino-  from  the  moment  when  the  sense  of 
imseen  reahties  burst  on  him  at  Blantyre,  to  the  time 
at  which  we  have  now  arrived,  must  see  that  this  view  is 
altogether  destitute  of  support.  The  impulse  of  divine 
love  that  had  urged  him  first  to  become  a  missionary 
had  now  become  with  him  the  settled  habit  of  his  life. 
No  new  ambition  had  flitted  across  his  path,  for  though 
he  had  become  known  as  a  geographical  discoverer,  he 
says  he  thought  very  little  of  the  fact,  and  his  life  shows 
this  to  have  been  true.  Twelve  years  of  missionary  life 
had  given  birth  to  no  sense  of  weariness,  no  abatement 
of  interest  in  these  poor  black  savages,  no  reluctance  to 
make  common  cause  with  them  in  the  affairs  of  life,  no 
despair  of  being  able  to  do  them  good.  On  the  contrary, 
he  was  confirmed  in  his  opinion  of  the  efficacy  of  his 
favourite  plan  of  native  agency,  and  if  he  cou.ld  but  get  a 
suitable  base  of  operations,  he  was  eager  to  set  it  going, 
and  on  every  side  he  was  assured  of  native  welcome. 
Shortly  before  (5th  February  1850),  when  writing  to  his 
father  with  reference  to  a  proposal  of  his  brother  Charles 


1849-52.]  KOLOBENG—LAKE  'NGAMI.  125 

that  he  should  go  and  settle  in  America,  he  had  said  : 
"  I  am  a  missionary,  heart  and  soul,  God  had  an  only 
Son,  and  He  was  a  missionary  and  a  physician.  A  poor, 
poor  imitation  of  Him  I  am,  or  wish  to  be.  In  this 
service  I  hope  to  live,  in  it  I  wish  to  die."  The  spectre 
of  the  slave-trade  had  enlarged  his  horizon,  and  shown 
him  the  necessity  of  a  commercial  revolution  for  the 
whole  of  Africa,  before  effectual  and  permanent  good 
could  be  done  in  any  part  of  it.  The  plan  which  he  had 
now  in  view  multiplied  the  risks  he  ran,  and  compelled 
him  to  think  anew  whether  he  was  ready  to  sacrifice  him- 
self, and  if  so,  for  what.  All  that  Livingstone  did  was 
thus  done  with  open  eyes,  and  well-considered  resolution. 
Adverting  to  the  prevalence  of  fever  in  some  parts  of  the 
country,  while  other  parts  were  comparatively  healthy,  he 
says  in  his  Journal : — "  I  offer  myself  as  a  forlorn  hope  in 
order  to  ascertain  whether  there  is  a  place  fit  to  be  a 
sanatorium  for  more  unhealthy  spots.  May  God  accept 
my  service,  and  use  me  for  His  glory.  A  great  honour 
it  is  to  be  a  fellow- worker  with  God."  "It  is  a  great 
venture,"  he  writes  to  his  sister  {28th  April  1851). 
"  Fever  may  cut  us  all  off.  I  feel  much  when  I  think  of 
the  children  dying.  But  who  will  go  if  we  don't  ?  Not 
one.  I  would  venture  everything  for  Christ.  Pity  I 
have  so  little  to  give.  But  He  will  accept  us,  for  He  is  a 
good  master.  Never  one  like  Him.  He  can  sympathise. 
May  He  forgive,  and  purify,  and  bless  us." 

If  in  his  spirit  of  high  consecration  he  was  thus 
unchanged,  equally  far  was  he  from  having  a  fanatical 
disregard  of  life,  and  the  rules  of  provident  livmg. 

"  Jesiis,"  lie  says,  "  came  not  to  judge — Kplvw — -condemn  judicially, 
or  execute  vengeance  on  any  one.  His  was  a  message  of  peace  and 
love.  He  shall  not  strive  nor  cry,  neither  shall  His  voice  be  heard  in 
the  streets.  Missionaries  ought  to  follow  His  example.  Neither  insist 
on  our  rights,  nor  appear  as  if  we  could  allow  our  goods  to  be  destroyed 
without  regret :  for  if  we  are  righteous  overmuch,  or  stand  up  for  our 
rights  with  too  much  vehemence,  we  beget  dislikes,  and  the  people  see 


126  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  vr. 

no  difference  between  ourselves  and  them.  And  if  vre  appear  to  care 
nothing  for  the  things  of  this  world,  they  conclude  we  are  rich,  and 
Avhen  tliey  beg,  our  refusal  is  ascribed  to  niggardliness,  and  our  pro- 
perty, too,  is  wantonly  destroyed.  '  Ga  ba  tloke'  =  they  are  not  in 
need,  is  the  phrase  employed  when  our  goods  are  allowed  to  go  to 
destruction  by  the  neglect  of  servants.  ...  In  coming  among  savage 
people,  we  ought  to  make  them  feel  we  are  of  them,  *  we  seek  not 
yours,  but  you;'  but  while  very  careful  not  to  make  a  gain  of  them, 
we  ought  to  be  as  careful  to  appear  thankful,  and  appreciate  any  effort 
they  may  make  for  our  comfort  or  subsistence," 

On  reaching  Kolobeng  from  'Ngami,  they  found  the 
station  deserted.  The  Bakwains  had  removed  to  Limaiie. 
Sechele  came  down  the  day  after,  and  presented  them 
with  an  ox — a  valuable  gift  in  his  circumstances.  Sechele 
had  much  yet  to  bear  from  the  Boers ;  and  after  being, 
without  provocation,  attacked,  pillaged  and  wasted,  and 
robbed  of  his  children,  he  was  bent  on  going  to  the  Queen 
of  England  to  state  his  wrongs.  This,  however,  he  could 
not  accomplish,  though  he  went  as  far  as  the  Cape. 
Coming  back  afterwards  to  his  own  people,  he  gathered 
large  numbers  about  him  from  other  tribes,  to  whose 
improvement  he  devoted  himself  with  much  success. 
He  still  survives,  with  the  one  wife  whom  he  retained ; 
and,  though  not  without  some  drawbacks  (which 
Livingstone  ascribed  to  the  bad  example  set  him  by 
some),  he  maintains  his  Christian  profession.  His  people 
are  settled  at  some  miles'  distance  from  Kolobeng,  and 
have  a  missionary  station,  supported  by  a  Hanoverian 
Society,  His  regard  for  the  memory  of  Livingstone  is 
very  great,  and  he  reads  with  eagerness  all  that  he  can 
find  about  him.  He  has  ever  been  a  warm  friend  of 
missions,  has  a  wonderful  knowledge  of  the  Bible,  and 
can  preach  well.  The  influence  of  Livingstone  in  his 
early  days  was  doubtless  a  real  power  in  mission-work. 
Mebalwe,  too,  we  are  informed  by  Dr.  Moffat,  still  sur- 
vives ;  a  useful  man,  an  able  preacher,  and  one  who  has 
done  much  to  bring  his  people  to  Christ. 


1849-52-]  KOLOBENG—LAKE  'NGAMI  127 

It  was  painful  to  Livingstone  to  say  good-bye  to  the 
Bakwains,  and  {as  Mrs.  Moftat  afterwards  reminded  him) 
his  friends  were  not  all  in  favour  of  his  domg  so  ;  but  he 
regarded  his  departure  as  inevitable.  After  a  short  stay 
at  Kuruman,  he  and  his  family  went  on  to  Cape  Town, 
where  they  arrived  on  the  16th  of  March  1852,  and  had 
new  proofs  of  Mr.  Oswell's  kindness.  After  eleven  years' 
absence,  Livingstone's  dress-coat  had  fallen  a  little  out  of 
fashion,  and  the  whole  costume  of  the  party  was  somewhat 
in  the  style  of  Robinson  Crusoe.  The  generosity  of  ''the 
best  friend  we  have  in  Africa  "  made  all  comfortable,  Mr. 
Oswell  remarking  that  Livingstone  had  as  good  a  right 
as  he  to  the  money  drawn  from  the  "preserves  on  his 
estate  " — the  elephants.  Mentally,  Livingstone  traces  to 
its  source  the  kindness  of  his  friend,  thinking  of  One  to 
whom  he  owed  all — "0  divine  Love,  I  have  not  loved 
Thee  strongly,  deej)ly,  warmly  enough."  The  retrospect 
of  his  eleven  years  of  African  labour,  unexampled  though 
they  had  been,  only  awakened  in  him  the  sense  of  unpro- 
fitable service. 

Before  closing  the  record  of  this  period,  we  must  take 
a  glance  at  the  remarkable  literary  activity  which  it  ^ 
witnessed.  We  have  had  occasion  to  refer  to  Living- 
stone's first  letters  to  Captain  Steele,  for  the  Geographical 
Society ;  additional  letters  were  contributed  from  time 
to  time.  His  philological  researches  have  also  been 
noticed.  Li  addition  to  these,  we  find  him  writing  two 
articles  on  African  Missions  for  the  BritisJi  Quarterly 
Review,  only  one  of  which  was  published.  He  likewise 
wrote  two  papers  for  the  British  Banner  on  the  Boers. 
While  crossing  the  desert,  after  leaving  the  Cape  on  his 
first  great  journey,  he  wrote  a  remarkable  jiaper  on 
"  Missionary  Sacrifices,"  and  another  of  great  vigour  on 
the  Boers.  Still  another  paper  on  Lake  'Ngami  was 
written  for  a  Missionary  Journal  contemplated,  but  never 
sta-rted,  under  the  editorship  of  the  late  Mr.  Isaac  Taylor; 


128  •DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  vi. 

and  he  had  one  in  his  mind  on  the  reho-ion  of  the 
Bechuanas,  jDresenting  a  view  which  differed  somewhat 
from  that  of  Mr.  Moffat.  Writincr  t»  Mr.  Watt  from 
Linyanti  (3d  October  1853),  on  printing  one  of  his 
papers,  he  says  : — 

"But  the  expense,  my  dear  man.  Wliat  a  mess  I  am  in,  writing 
papers  wliich  cannot  pay  their  own  way !  Pauper  papers,  in  fact, 
which  must  go  to  the  workhouse  for  support.  Ugh  !  Has  the  CafFre 
"War  paper  shared  the  same  fate  %  and  the  Language  paper  too  %  Here 
I  have  two  by  me,  Avhich  I  will  keep  in  their  native  obscurity.  One 
is  on  the  South  African  Boers  and  slavery,  in  which  I  show  that  their 
church  is,  and  always  has  been,  the  great  bulwark  of  slaverj',  cattle- 
lifting,  and  Caffre-marauding ;  and  1  correct  the  mistaken  views  of 
some  writers  who  describe  the  Boers  as  all  that  is  good,  and  of  others 
who  describe  them  as  all  that  is  bad,  by  showing  Avho  are  the  good 
and  who  are  the  bad.  The  other,  which  I  rather  admire — Avhat  father 
doesn't  his  own  progeny  % — is  on  the  missionary  work,  and  designed  to 
aid  young  men  of  piety  to  form  a  more  correct  idea  of  it  than  is  to  be 
had  from  much  of  the  missionary  biography  of  '  sacrifices.'  I  magnify 
the  enterprise,  exult  in  the  future,  etc.,  etc.  It  was  written  in  coming 
across  the  desert,  and  if  it  never  does  aught  else,  it  imparted  comfort 
and  encouragement  to  myself.^  ...  I  feel  ahnost  inclined  to  send  it. 
...  If  the  CafTre  War  one  is  rejected,  then  farewell  to  spouting  in 
Ee  views." 

If  he  had  met  with  more  encouragement  from  editors 
he  would  have  written  more.  But  the  editorial  cold 
shoulder  was  beyond  even  his  power  of  endurance.  He 
vj  laid  aside  his  jDcn  in  a  kind  of  disgust,  and  this  doubt- 
less was  one  of  the  reasons  that  made  him  unwilling  to 
resume  it  on  his  return  to  England.  Editors  were  wiser 
then  :  and  the  offer  from  one  London  Mag^azine  of  ,£4:00 
for  four  articles,  and  from  Good  V^'ovds  of  £1000  for  a 
Jiumber  of  papers  to  be  fixed  afterwards — offers  which, 
however,  were  not  accepted  finally, — showed  how  the 
tide  had  turned. 

^  For  extracts  from  the  paper  on  "  Missionaiy  Sacrifices,"  see  Appendix  No.  I., 
p.  473.  For  part  of  the  paper  on  the  Boers,  see  Catholic  Preshi/terian,  December 
1879  (London,  Nisbet  and  Co.). 


1 85 2-53-]  I^ROM  THE  CAPE  TO  LINYANTI.  129 


CHAPTER    YII. 

FKOM  THE  CAPE  TO  LINYAXTI. 

A.D.  1852-1853. 

Unfavourable  feeling  at  Cape  Town — Departure  of  Mrs.  Livingstone  and  children 
— Livingstone's  detention  and  difficulties — Letter  to  his  wife — to  Agnes — 
Occupations  at  Cape  Town — The  Astronomei'-Eoyal — Livingstone  leaves  the 
Cape  and  reaches  Kuruman — Destruction  of  Kolobeng  by  the  Boers — Letters 
to  his  wife  and  Rev.  J.  Moore — His  resolution  to  open  up  Africa  or  perish — 
Arrival  at  Linyanti — I'nhealthiness  of  the  country— Thoughts  on  setting  out 
for  coast — Sekeletu's  kindness — Livingstone's  missionaiy  activity— Death  of 
Mpepe,  and  of  his  father— Meeting  with  Ma-mochisane— Barotse  country — 
Determines  to  go  to  Loanda — Heathenism  unadulterated — Taste  for  the 
beautiful — Letter  to  his  children — to  his  father — Last  Sunday  at  Linyanti — 
Prospect  of  his  falling. 

When  Livingstone  arrived  at  the  Cape,  he  found  the 
authorities  in  a  state  of  excitement  over  the  CaflPre  War, 
and  very  far  from  friendly  towards  the  London  Missionary 
Society,  some  of  whose  missionaries — liimself  among  the 
number — were  regarded  as  "unpatriotic."  He  had  a 
very  poor  opinion  of  the  officials,  and  their  treatment 
of  the  natives  scandalised  him.  He  describes  the  trial  y/ 
of  an  old  soldier,  Botha,  as  "the  most  horrid  exhibition 
I  ever  witnessed."  The  noble  conduct  of  Botha  in  prison 
was  a  beautiful  contrast  to  the  scene  in  court.  This 
whole  Caftre  War  had  exemplified  the  blundering  of  the 
Biitish  authorities,  and  was  teaching  the  natives  develop- 
ments, the  issue  of  which  could  not  be  foreseen.  As  for 
himself,  he  writes  to  Mr.  Moffat,  that  he  was  cordially 
hated,  and  perhaps  he  might  be  pulled  up  ;  but  he  knew 
that  some  of  his  letters  had  been  read  by  the  Duke  of 

I 


>30  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  vii. 

Welliiigton  and  Lord  Brougham  with  pleasure,  and, 
possibly,  he  might  get  justice.  lie  bids  his  father-in- 
law  not  be  surprised  if  he  saw  him  abused  in  the  news- 
papers. 

On  the  23d  April  1852,  Mrs.  Livingstone  and  the 
four  children  sailed  from  Cape  Town  for  England.  The 
sending  of  his  children  to  be  brought  up  by  others  was 
a  very  great  trial,  and  Dr.  Livingstone  seized  the  oppor- 
tunity to  impress  on  the  Directors  that  those  by  whom 
missionaries  were  sent  out  had  a  great  duty  to  the 
children  whom  their  parents  were  compelled  to  send 
away.  Referring  to  the  filthy  conversation  and  Avays  of 
the  heathen,  he  says  : — 

"  Missionaries  expose  their  children  to  a  contamination  which  they 
have  had  no  hand  in  producing.  We  expose  them  and  ourselves  for 
a  time  in  order  to  elevate  those  sad  captives  of  sin  and  Satan,  who  are 
the  victims  of  tlie  degradation  of  ages.  None  of  those  who  complain 
about  missionaries  sending  their  children  home  ever  descend  to  this. 
And  again,  as  Mr.  James  in  his  Young  Man  from  Home  forcibly  shows, 
a  greater  misfortune  cannot  befall  a  youth  than  to  be  cast  into  the 
world  without  a  home.  In  regard  to  even  the  vestige  of  a  home,  my 
children  are  absolutely  vagabonds.  When  shall  we  return  to  Kolobeng] 
When  to  Kuruman  ]  Never.  The  mark  of  Cain  is  on  your  foreheads, 
your  f^ither  is  a  missionary.  Our  children  ought  to  haA^e  both  the 
sympathies  and  prayers  of  those  at  whose  bidding  we  become  sti'angers 
for  life." 

Was  there  ever  a  plea  more  powerful  or  more  just  ? 
It  is  sad  to  think  that  the  coldness  of  Christians  at  home 
should  have  led  a  man  like  Livingstone  to  fancy  that, 
because  his  children  were  the  children  of  a  missionary, 
they  would  bear  the  mark  of  Cain,  and  be  homeless 
vagabonds.  Why  are  we  at  home  so  forgetful  of  the 
privilege  of  refreshing  the  bowels  of  those  who  take  their 
lives  in  their  hands  for  the  love  of  Christ,  by  makmg  a 
home  for  their  ofPspring  ?  In  a  higher  state  of  Christianity 
there  will  be  hundreds  of  the  best  families  at  home 
delio'hted,  for  the  love  of  their  Master,  to  welcome  and 
brmg  up  the  missionary's  children.     And  when  the  Great 


I'^^S^-SS-]  FROM  THE  CAPE  TO  LlNYAi^TI.  131 

Day  comes,  none  will  more  surely  receive  that  best  of  all 
forms  of  repayment,  "  Inasmuch  as  ye  did  it  unto  the 
least  of  these  my  brethren,  ye  did  it  unto  Me." 

Livingstone,  who  had  now  got  the  troublesome  uvula 
cut  out,  was  detained  at  the  Cape  nearly  two  months 
after  his  family  left.  He  was  so  distrusted  by  the 
authorities  that  they  would  hardly  sell  powder  and 
shot  to  him,  and  he  had  to  fight  a  battle  that  demanded 
all  his  courage  and  perseverance  for  a  few  boxes  of 
^^ercussion  caps.  At  the  last  moment,  a  troublesome 
country  j)Ostmaster,  to  whom  he  had  complained  of 
an  overcharge  of  postage,  threatened  an  action  against 
him  for  defamation  of  character,  and,  rather  than  be 
further  detained,  deep  in  debt  though  he  was,  Living- 
stone had  to  pay  him  a  considerable  sum.  His  family 
were  much  in  his  thoughts ;  he  found  some  relief  in 
wi-iting  by  every  mail.  His  letters  to  his  wife  are  too 
sacred  to  be  spread  before  the  public ;  we  confine  our- 
selves to  a  single  extract,  to  show  over  what  a  host  of 
suppressed  emotions  he  had  to  march  in  this  ex]Dedi- 
tion  : — 

''Cai}&  Town,  5//t  May  1852.— My  dearest  Mary,— How  I 
miss  you  now,  and  the  dear  children !  My  heart  yearns  incessantly 
over  you.  How  many  thoughts  of  the  past  crowd  into  my  mind  ! 
I  feel  as  if  I  would  treat  you  all  much  more  tenderly  and  lovingly 
than  ever.  You  have  been  a  great  blessing  to  me.  You  attended 
to  my  comfort  in  many  many  ways.  May  God  bless  you  for  all 
your  kindnesses !  I  see  no  face  now  to  be  compared  with  that 
sunburnt  one  which  has  so  often  greeted  me  Avitli  its  kind  looks. 
Let  us  do  our  duty  to  our  Saviour,  and  Ave  shall  meet  again.  I 
wish  that  time  were  now.  You  may  read  the  letters  over  again 
which  I  wrote  at  JMabotsa,  the  SAveet  time  you  knoAv.  As  I  told  you 
before,  I  tell  you  again,  they  are  true,  true ;  there  is  not  a  bit  of 
hypocrisy  in  them.  I  never  shoAV  all  my  feelings ;  but  I  can  say  trulj^, 
my  dearest,  that  I  loved  you  Avhen  I  married  you,  and  the  longer  I 
lived  Avith  you,  I  loved  you  the  better.  .  .  .  Let  us  do  our  duty 
to  Christ,  and  He  Avill  bring  us  through  the  Avorld  Avith  honour  and 
usefulness.  He  is  our  refuge  and  high  toAA^er ;  let  us  trust  in  Him  at 
all  times,  and  in  all  circumstances.  .  Love  Him  more  and  more,  and 
diffuse  His  love  among  the  children.     Take  them  all  round  you,  and 


132  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap,  vii 

kiss  them  for  me.  Tell  them  I  have  left  them  for  the  love  of  Jesus, 
and  they  must  love  Him  too,  and  avoid  sin,  for  that  displeases  Jesus. 
I  shall  be  delighted  to  hear  of  you  all  safe  in  England.  .   .   ." 

A  few  days  later,  lie  writes  to  Lis  eldest  daughter, 
then  in  her  fifth  year  : — 

"  Cai^e  Town,  18th  May  1852. — My  dear  Agnes, — This  is  your 
own  little  letter.  Mamma  will  read  it  to  you,  and  you  will  hear  her 
just  as  if  I  were  speaking  to  you,  for  the  words  which  I  write  are  those 
which  she  will  read.  I  am  still  at  Cape  Town.  You  know  you  left 
me  there  when  you  all  went  into  the  big  ship  and  sailed  away.  "Well, 
I  shall  leave  Cape  Town  soon.  JNIalatsi  has  gone  for  the  oxen,  and 
then  I  shall  go  away  back  to  Sebituane's  country,  and  see  Seipone  and 
Meriye,  who  gave  you  the  beads  and  fed  you  with  milk  and  honey.  I 
shall  not  see  you  again  for  a  long  time,  and  I  am  very  sorry.  I  have 
no  Nannie  now.  I  have  given  you  back  to  Jesus,  your  Friend — your 
Papa  Avho  is  in  heaven.  He  is  above  you,  but  He  is  always  near  you. 
"When  we  ask  things  from  Him,  that  is  praying  to  Him  ;  and  if  you  do 
or  say  a  naughty  thing  ask  Him  to  pardon  you,  and  bless  you,  and 
make  you  one  of  His  children.  Love  Jesus  much,  for  He  loves 
you,  and  He  came  and  died  for  you.  Oh,  how  good  Jesus  is  !  I  love 
Him,  and  I  shall  love  Him  as  long  as  I  live.  You  must  love  Him  too, 
and  you  must  love  your  brothers  and  mamma,  and  never  tease  them 
or  be  naughty,  for  Jesus  does  not  like  to  see  naughtiness. — Good-bye, 
my  dear  Nannie,  D.  Livingston." 

Among  his  other  occupations  at  Cape  Town  Living- 
stone put  himself  under  the  instructions  of  the  Astronomer- 
Royal,  Mr.  (afterwards  Sir  Thomas)  Maclear,  who  became 
one  of  his  best  and  most  esteemed  friends.  His  object 
Avas  to  qualify  himself  more  thoroughly  for  taking  obser- 
vations that  would  give  perfect  accuracy  to  his  geogra- 
phical explorations.  He  tried  English  preaching  too,  but 
his  throat  was  still  tender,  and  he  felt  very  nervous,  as  he 
had  done  at  Ongar,  "  What  a  little  thing,"  he  writes  to 
Mr,  Moifat,  "  is  sufficient  to  bring  down  to  olcl-wifeishness 
such  a  rough  tyke  as  I  consider  myself!  Poor,  proud 
human  nature  is  a  great  fool  after  all."  A  second  effort 
was  more  successful.  "I  preached,"  he  writes  to  his 
wife,  "on  the  text,  '  Why  will  ye  die  V  I  had  it  written 
out  and  only  referred  to  it  twice,  which  is  an  improve- 


1852-53-]  FROM  THE  CAPE  TO  LINYANTI.  133 

merit  in  English,  I  hope  good  was  done.  The  people 
were  very  attentive  indeed.  I  felt  less  at  a  loss  than  in 
Union  Chapel."^  He  arranged  with  a  mercantile  friend, 
Mr.  Eutherfoord,  to  direct  the  operations  of  a  native 
trader,  George  Fleming,  whom  that  gentleman  was  to 
employ  for  the  purpose  of  introducing  lawful  traffic  in 
order  to  supplant  the  slave-trade. 

It  was  not  till  the  8th  of  June  that  he  left  the  Cape. 
His  wagon  was  loaded  to  double  the  usual  weight  from 
his  good  nature  in  taking  everybody's  packages.  His 
oxen  were  lean,  and  he  was  too  poor  to  provide  better.  He 
reached  Griqua  Town  on  the  15th  August,  and  Kuruman 
a  fortnight  later.  Many  things  had  occasioned  unex- 
pected delay,  and  tlie  last  crowning  detention  was  caused 
by  the  breaking  down  of  a  wheel.  It  turned  out,  however, 
,  that  these  delays  were  probably  the  means  of  saving  his 
life.  Had  they  not  occurred  he  would  have  reached  Kolo- 
beng  in  August.  But  this  was  the  very  time  when  the 
commando  of  the  Boers,  numbering  600  colonists  and  many 
natives  besides,  were  busy  with  the  work  of  death  and 
destruction.  Had  he  been  at  Kolobeng,  Pretorius  would 
probably  have  executed  his  threat  of  killing  him ;  at 
the  least  he  would  have  been  deprived  of  all  the  property 
that  he  carried  with  him,  and  his  projected  enterprise 
would  have  been  broug-ht  to  an  end. 

In  a  letter  to  his  wife,  Livingstone  gives  full  details 
of  the  horrible  outrage  perpetrated  shortly  before  by 
the  Boers  at  Kolobeng  : — 

"  Kuniman,  20th  September  1852. — Along  with  this  I  send  you 
a  long  letter  ;  this  I  Avrite  in  order  to  give  you  the  latest  news.  The 
Boers  gutted  our  house  at  Kolobeng;  they  brought  four  Avagons 
down  and  took  away  sofa,  table,  bed,  all  the  crockery,  your  desk 
(I  hope  it  had  nothing  in  it — Have  you  the  letters  1),  smashed  the 
wooden  chairs,  took  away  the  iron  ones,  tore  out  the  leaves  of  all  the 
books,  and  scattered  them  in  front  of  the  house,  smashed  the  bottles 

1  The  manuscript  of   this  sermon    still    exists.      The  sermon  is  very  simple, 
scrii^tural,  and  earnest,  in  the  style  of  Bishop  Ryle,  or  of  Mr.  Moody. 


134  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  vii. 

containing  medicines,  windows,  oven-door,  took  away  the  smith- 
bellows,  anvil,  all  the  tools, — in  fact  everything  worth  taking  :  three 
corn -mills,  a  hag  of  coffee  for  which  I  paid  six  i^ounds,  and  lots  of 
coffee,  tea,  and  sugar,  which  the  gentlemen  who  went  to  the  north  left; 
took  all  our  cattle  and  Paul's  and  Mebalwe's.  They  then  went  up 
to  Limaiie,  went  to  church  morning  and  afternoon,  and  heard  Mebalwe 
preach  !  After  the  second  service  they  told  Sechele  that  they  had 
come  to  fight,  because  he  allowed  Englishmen  to  proceed  to  the 
North,  though  they  had  repeatedly  ordered  him  not  to  do  so.  He 
replied  that  he  w,is  a  man  of  peace,  that  he  could  not  molest 
Englishmen,  because  they  had  never  done  him  any  harm,  and 
ahvays  treated  him  well.  In  the  morning  they  commenced  firing 
on  the  town  with  swivels,  and  set  fire  to  it.  The  heat  forced 
some  of  the  women  to  flee,  the  men  to  huddle  together  on  the 
small  hill  in  the  middle  of  the  town  ;  the  smoke  prevented  them  seeing 
the  Boers,  and  the  cannon  killed  many,  sixty  (GO)  BakAvains.  The 
Boers  then  came  near  to  kill  and  destroy  them  all,  but  the  Bakwains 
killed  thirty-five  (35),  and  many  horses.  They  fought  the  whole  day, 
but  the  Boers  could  not  dislodge  them.  They  stopped  firing  in  the 
evening,  and  then  the  Bakwains  retired  on  account  of  having  no 
water.  The  above  sixty  are  not  all  men ;  women  and  children  are 
among  the  slain.  The  Boers  were  GOO,  and  they  had  700  natives 
with  them.  All  the  corn  is  burned.  Parties  went  out  and  burned  Bang- 
Avaketse  town,  and  swept  off  all  the  cattle.  Sebubi's  cattle  are  all  gone. 
All  the  Bakhatla  cattle  gone.  Neither  Bangwaketse  nor  Bakhatla 
fired  a  shot.  All  the  corn  burned  of  the  whole  three  tribes.  Every- 
thing edible  is  taken  from  them.  How  will  they  live  ]  They  told 
Sechele  that  the  Queen  had  given  off  the  land  to  them,  and  henceforth 
they  Avere  the  masters, — had  abolished  chieftainship.  Sir  Harry 
Smith  tried  the  same,  and  England  has  paid  tAA'o  millions  of  money  to 
catch  one  chief,  and  he  is  still  as  free  as  the  AA'inds  of  heaven.  How^  Avill 
it  end  '?  I  don't  knoAv,  but  I  Avill  tell  you  the  beginning.  There  are 
two  parties  of  Boers  gone  to  the  Lake.  These  Avill  to  a  dead  cer- 
tainty be  cut  off.  They  amount  to  thirty-six  men.  Parties  are  sent 
noAv  in  pursuit  of  them.  The  Balnvains  aa^II  jilunder  and  murder  the 
Boers  Avithout  mercy,  and  by  and  by  the  Boers  Avill  ask  the  English 
Government  to  assist  them  to  put  down  rebellion,  and  of  this  rebellion 
I  shall  haA'e,  of  course,  to  bear  the  blame.  They  often  expressed 
a  Avish  to  get  hold  of  me.  I  Avait  here  a  little  in  order  to  get  infor- 
mation Avhen  the  patli  is  clear.  Kind  Providence  detained  me  from 
falling  into  the  very  thick  of  it.  God  Avill  preserve  me  still.  He  has 
Avork  for  me  or  He  Avould  have  alloAved  me  to  go  in  just  AA'hen  the 
Boers  Avere  there.  We  shall  remove  more  easily  now  that  Ave  are 
lightened  of  our  furniture.  They  liaA'e  taken  away  our  sofii.  I  never 
had  a  good  rest  on  it.  AVe  had  only  got  it  ready  Avhen  Ave  left.  "Well, 
they  can't  have  taken  aAvay  all  the  stones.  We  shall  have  a  seat  in 
spite  of  them,  and  that  too  Avith  a  merry  heart  Avhich  doeth  good  like 


I852-53-]  FROM  THE  CAPE  TO  LINYANTI.  135 

a  medicine.  I  wonder  Avhat  the  Peace  Society  would  do  with  these 
worthies.  They  are  Christians.  The  Dutch  predicants  baptize  all 
their  children,  and  admit  them  to  the  Lord's  Supper.  .  .  ." 

Dr.  Livingstone  was  not  disposed  to  restrain  his  in- 
dignation and  grief  over  his  losses.  For  one  so  patient 
and  good,  he  had  a  very  large  vial  of  indignation,  and  on 
occasion  poured  it  out  right  heartily  over  all  injustice 
and  cruelty.  On  no  heads  was  it  ever  discharged  more 
freely  than  on  these  Transvaal  Boers.  He  made  a  formal 
representation  of  his  losses  both  to  the  Cape  and  Home 
authorities,  but  never  received  a  farthing  of  compensa- 
tion. The  subsequent  history  of  the  Transvaal  Republic 
will  convince  many  that  Livingstone  was  not  far  from 
the  truth  in  his  estimate  of  the  character  of  the  free  and 
independent  Boers. 

But  while  perfectly  sincere  in  his  mdignation  over 
the  treatment  of  the  natives  and  his  own  losses,  his 
playful  fancy  could  find  a  ludicrous  side  for  what  con- 
cerned hunself,  and  grim  enjoyment  in  showing  it  to  his 
friends.  "Think,"  he  writes  to  his  friend  Watt,  "think 
of  a  big  fat  Boeress  drinking  coffee  out  of  my  kettle,  and 
then  throwing  her  tallowy  corporeity  on  my  sofa,  or 
keeping  her  needles  in  my  wife's  writing-desk  !  Ugh ! 
and  then  think  of  foolish  John  Bull  paying  so  "many 
thousands  a  year  for  the  suppression  of  the  slave-trade, 
and  allowmg  Commissioner  Aven  to  make  treaties  with 
Boers  who  carry  on  the  slave-trade.  .  .  .  The  Boers  are 
mad  with  rage  against  me  because  my  people  fought 
bravely.  It  was  I,  they  think,  who  taught  them  to 
shoot  Boers.  Fancy  your  reverend  friend  teaching  the 
young  idea  how  to  shoot  Boers,  and  praying  for  a  blessing 
on  the  work  of  his  hands  I  " 

In  the  same  spirit  he  writes  to  his  friend  Moore  :  — 

"  I  never  knew  I  was  so  rich  until  I  recounted  up  the  different 
articles  that  were  taken  away.  They  cannot  be  replaced  in  this 
country  under  £300.     Many  tilings  brought  to  our  establishment  by 


136  DA  VID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  vii. 

my  better-half  were  of  considerable  value.  Of  all  I  am  now  lightened, 
and  they  want  to  ease  me  of  my  head.  .  .  .  The  Boers  kill  the  blacks 
without  compunction,  and  without  provocation,  because  they  believe 
they  have  no  souls.  .  .  .  Viewing  the  dispensation  apart  from  the 
extreme  wickedness  of  the  Boers,  it  seemed  a  judgment  on  tlie  blacks 
for  their  rejection  of  the  gospel.  They  have  verily  done  despite  unto 
the  Spirit  of  grace.  .  .  .  Their  enmity  was  not  manifested  to  us,  but 
to  the  gospel.  I  am  grieved  for  them,  and  still  hope  that  the  good 
seed  will  yet  vegetate."  ^ 

But  while  he  could  relax  playfully  at  the  tliought  of 
the  desolation  at  Kolobeng,  he  knew  how  to  make  it  the 
occasion  likewise  of  high  resolves.  The  Boers,  as  he 
wrote  the  Directors,  were  resolved  to  shut  up  the  interior. 
He  was  determined,  with  God's  help,  to  open  the  country. 
Time  would  show  which  would  be  most  successful  in 
resolution, — they  or  he.  To  his  brother-in-law  he  wrote 
that  he  would  open  a  path  through  the  country,  or  'perish. 

As  for  the  contest  with  the  Boers,  we  may  smile  at 
their  impotent  wrath.  It  is  a  singular  fact  that  while 
Sechele  still  retains  the  position  of  an  independent  chief, 
the  republic  of  the  Boers  has  passed  away.  It  is  now 
part  of  the  British  Empire. 

The  country  was  so  unsettled  that  for  a  long  time 
Dr.  Livingstone  could  not  get  guides  at  Kuruman  to  go 
with  him  to  Sebituane's.  At  length,  however,  he  suc- 
ceeded, and  leaving  Kuruman  finally  about  the  end  of 

^  This  letter  to  Mr.  Moore  contains  a  trait  of  Livingstone,  very  trifling  in 
the  occasion  out  of  which  it  arose,  but  showing  vividly  the  nature  of  the  man. 
He  had  jiromised  to  send  Mr.  Moore's  little  son  some  curiosities,  but  had  for- 
gotten when  his  family  went  to  England.  Being  reminded  of  his  promise  in  a  post- 
scrijit  the  little  fellow  had  added  to  a  letter  from  his  father,  Livingstone  is  "over- 
whelmed M'ith  shame  and  confusion  of  face. "  He  feels  he  has  disappointed  the 
boy  and  forgotten  his  promise.  Again  and  again  Livingstone  returns  to  the 
subject,  and  feels  assured  that  his  young  friend  would  forgive  him  if  he  knew 
how  much  he  suffered  for  his  fault.  That  in  the  midst  of  liis  own  overwhelming 
troubles  he  should  feel  so  much  for  the  disappointment  of  a  little  heart  in  England 
shows  how  terrible  a  thing  it  was  to  him  to  cause  needless  pain,  and  how  pro- 
foundly it  distressed  him  to  seem  forgetful  of  a  promise.  Years  afterwards  he 
wrote  that  he  had  brought  an  elephant's  tail  for  Henry,  but  one  of  the  men  stole 
all  the  hairs  and  sold  them.  He  had  still  a  tusk  of  a  hippopotamus  for  him,  and 
a  tooth  for  his  brother,  but  he  had  brought  no  curiosities,  for  he  could  scarcely 
get  along  himself. 


1852-53.]  FROM  THE  CAPE  TO  LINYANTI.  137 

December  1852,  in  company  with  George  Fleming,  Mr. 
Kutherfoorcrs  trader,  he  set  out  in  a  new  direction,  to  the 
west  of  the  old,  in  order  to  give  a  Avide  berth  to  the 
Boers.  Travelling  rapidly  he  passed  through  Sebituane's 
country,  and  in  June  1853  arrived  at  Linyanti,  the 
capital  of  the  Makololo.  He  wrote  to  his  wife  that  he 
had  been  very  anxious  to  go  to  Kolobeng  and  see  with 
his  own  eyes  the  destruction  wrought  by  the  savages. 
He  had  a  great  longing,  too,  to  visit  once  more  the  grave 
of  Elizabeth,  their  infant  daughter,  but  he  heard  that  the 
Boers  were  in  the  neighbourhood,  and  were  anxious  to 
catch  him,  and  he  thought  it  best  not  to  go.  Two  years 
before,  he  had  been  at  Linyanti  with  Mr.  Oswell.  Many 
details  of  the  new  journey  are  given  in  the  Missionary 
Travels,  which  it  is  unnecessary  to  repeat.  It  may  be 
enough  to  state  that  he  found  the  country  flooded,  and 
that  on  the  way  it  was  no  unusual  thing  for  him  to  be 
wet  all  day,  and  to  walk  through  swamps,  and  water 
three  or  four  feet  deep.  Trees,  thorns  and  reeds  offered 
tremendous  resistance,  and  he  and  his  people  must  have 
presented  a  pitiable  sight  when  forcing  their  way  through 
reeds  with  cutting  edges.  "  With  our  own  hands  all 
raw  and  bloody,  and  knees  through  our  trousers,  we  at 
length  emerged."  It  was  a  happy  thought  to  tear  his 
pocket-handkerchief  into  two  parts  and  tie  them  over 
his  knees.  "I  remember,"  he  says  in  his  Journal,  re- 
ferring to  last  year's  journey,  "  the  toil  vv'hich  our 
friend  Oswell  endured  on  our  account.  He  never  spared 
himself"  It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  his  guides  w^ere 
happy  in  such  a  march  ;  it  required  his  tact  stretched 
to  its  very  utmost  to  prevent  them  from  turning- 
back.  "At  the  Malopo,"  he  twites  to  his  wife,  "there 
were  other  dangers  besides.  When  walking  before  the 
wagon  in  the  morning  twilight,  I  observed  a  lioness 
about  fifty  yards  from  me,  in  the  squatting  way  they 
walk  when  going  to  spring.     She  was  followed  by  a  very 


138  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  vii. 

large  lion,  but  seeing  the  wagon,  she  turned  back.' 
Thoiigli  he  escaped  fever  at  first,  he  had  repeated  attacks 
afterwards,  and  had  to  be  constantly  using  remedies 
against  it.  The  unhealthiness  of  the  region  to  Europeans 
forced  itself  painfully  on  his  attention,  and  made  him 
wonder  in  what  way  God  would  bring  the  light  of  the 
gospel  to  the  poor  inhabitants.  As  a  physician  his  mind 
was  much  occupied  with  the  nature  of  the  disease,  and 
the  way  to  cure  it.  If  only  he  could  discover  a  remedy 
for  that  scourge  of  Africa,  what  an  invaluable  boon  would 
he  confer  on  its  much-afflicted  people  ! 

"  I  would  like,"  he  says  in  his  Journal,  "  to  devote  a  portion  of  my 
life  to  the  discovery  of  a  remedy  for  that  terrible  disease,  the  African 
fever.^  I  would  go  into  the  parts  Avhere  it  prevails  most,  and  try  to 
discover  if  the  natives  have  a  remedy  for  it.  I  must  make  many 
inquiries  of  the  river  people  in  this  quarter.  What  an  unspeakable 
mercy  it  is  to  be  permitted  to  engage  in  this  most  holy  and  honourable 
work !  What  an  infinity  of  lots  in  the  world  are  poor,  miserable  and 
degraded  compared  with  mine  !  I  might  have  been  a  common  soldier, 
a  day-labourer,  a  factory  operative,  a  mechanic,  instead  of  a  missionary. 
If  my  faculties  had  been  left  to  run  riot  or  to  waste  as  those  of  so 
many  young  men,  I  should  now  have  been  used  up,  a  dotard,  as  many 
of  my  school-fellows  are.  I  am  respected  by  the  natives,  their  kind 
expressions  often  make  me  ashamed,  and  they  are  sincere.  So  much 
deference  and  favour  manifested  without  any  effort  on  my  part  to 
secure  it  comes  from  the  Author  of  every  good  gift.  I  acknowledge 
the  mercies  of  the  great  God  with  devout  and  reverential  gratitude." 

Dr.  Livingstone  had  declined  a  considerate  proposal 
that  another  missionary  should  accompany  him,  and 
deliberately  resolved  to  go  this  great  journey  alone.  He 
knew  in  fact  that  except  Mr.  Moffat,  who  was  busy  with 
his  translation  of  the  Bible,  no  other  missionary  would 
fifo  with  him.^  But  in  the  absence  of  all  to  whom  he 
could  unburden  his  spirit,  we  find  him  more  freely  than 

^  Livingstone's  Remedy  for  African  fever.     See  Appendix  Xo.  II.,  p.  479. 

^  Dr.  Moffat  informs  us  that  Livingstone's  desire  for  his  comiiany  was  most 
intense,  and  that  he  pressed  him  in  such  a  way  as  would  have  been  irresistible, 
had  his  going  been  possible.  But  for  his  employment  in  translating,  Dr.  Moffat 
would  have  gone  with  all  his  heart. 


I852-53-J  FROM  THE  CAPE  TO  LINYANTI.  139 

usual  j)ouring  out  his  feelings  in  his  Journal,  and  it  is 
but  an  act  of  justice  to  himself  that  it  should  be  made 
known  how  his  thoughts  were  running,  with  so  bold  and 
difficult  an  undertaking^  before  him  : — 

"28/A  Septemher  1852. — Am  I  on  my  way  to  die  in  Sebituane's 
country  ]  Have  I  seen  the  end  of  my  wife  and  children  ?  The 
breaking  up  of  all  my  connections  with  earth,  leaving  this  fair  and 
beautiful  world,  and  knowing  so  little  of  it  1  I  am  only  learning  the 
alphabet  of  it  yet,  and  entering  on  an  untried  state  of  existence. 
Following  Him  who  has  entered  in  befoi-e  me  into  the  cloud,  the  veil, 
the  Hades,  is  a  serious  prospect.  Do  we  begin  again  in  our  new 
existence  to  learn  much  by  experience,  or  have  we  full  powers  ]  My 
soul,  whither  wilt  thou  emigrate  %  Where  wilt  thou  lodge  the  first 
night  after  leaving  this  body  ]  Will  an  angel  soothe  thy  flutterings, 
for  sadly  flurried  wilt  thou  be  in  entering  upon  eternity"?  Oh!  if 
Jesus  speak  one  word  of  peace,  that  will  establish  in  thy  breast  an  ever- 
lasting calm  !  0  Jesus,  fill  me  with  Thy  love  now,  and  I  beseech 
Thee,  accept  me,  and  use  me  a  little  for  Thy  glory.  I  have  done 
nothing  for  Thee  yet,  and  I  would  like  to  do  something.  0  do,  do, 
I  beseech  Thee,  accept  me  and  my  service,  and  take  Thou  all  the 
glory.  ..." 

"  23(/  Jaimary  1853. — I  think  much  of  my  poor  children.  .  .  ." 

"  4/A  February  1853. — I  am  spared  in  health,  while  all  the  com- 
pany have  been  attacked  by  the  fever.  If  God  has  accepted  my 
service,  then  my  life  is  charmed  till  my  work  is  done.  And  though  I 
pass  through  many  dangers  unscathed  while  working  the  work  given 
me  to  do,  when  that  is  finished,  some  simple  thing  will  give  me  my 
quietus.  Death  is  a  glorious  event  to  one  going  to  Jesus.  Whither 
cloes  the  soul  wing  its  way  ]  What  does  it  see  first  %  Thei-e  is 
something  sublime  in  passing  into  the  second  stage  of  our  immortal 
lives  if  washed  from  our  sins.  But,  oh  !  to  be  consigned  to  ponder 
over  all  our  sins  with  memories  excited,  every  scene  of  our  lives  held 
up  as  in  a  mirror  before  our  eyes,  and  we  looking  at  them  and  waiting 
for  the  day  of  judgment !" 

"17^/i  February. — It  is  not  the  encountering  of  difficulties  and 
dangers  in  obedience  to  the  promptings  of  the  inward  spiritual  life, 
which  constitutes  tempting  of  God  and  Providence ;  but  the  acting 
Avithout  faith,  proceeding  on  our  own  errands  witli  no  previous  con- 
victions of  duty,  and  no  prayer  for  aid  and  direction." 

"22(Z  May. — 1  will  place  no  value  on  anything  I  have  or  may 
possess,  except  in  relation  to  the  kingdom  of  Christ.  If  anything  will 
advance  the  interests  of  that  kingdom,  it  shall  be  given  away  or  kept, 
only  as  by  giving  or  keeping  of  it  1  shall  most  promote  the  glory  of  Him 
to  whom  I  owe  all  my  hopes  in  time  and  eternity.  May  grace  and 
strength  sufficient  to  enable  me  to  adhere  faithfully  to  this  resolution. 


I40  DA  VID  LIViyGSTONE.  [chap.  vii. 

be  imparted  to  me,  so  that  in  truth,  not  in  name  only,  all  my  interests 
and  those  of  my  children  may  be  identified  with  His  cause.  .  .  . 
I  will  try  and  remember  always  to  approach  God  in  secret  with  as 
much  reverence  in  speech,  posture,  and  behaviour  as  in  public. 
Help  me,  Thou  who  knowest  my  frame  and  pitiest  as  a  father  his 
children." 

When  Livingstone  reached  the  Makololo,  a  change 
had  taken  phice  in  the  government  of  the  tribe.  Ma- 
mochisane,  the  daughter  of  Sebitiiane,  had  not  been 
happy  in  her  chiefdom,  and  had  found  it  difficult  to  get 
along  with  the  number  of  husbands  whom  her  dignity  as 
chief  required  her  to  maintain.  She  had  given  over  the 
government  to  her  brother  Sekeletu,  a  youth  of  eighteen, 
who  was  generally  recognised,  though  not  without  some 
reluctance,  by  his  brother  Mpepe.  Livingstone  could  not 
have  foreseen  how  Sekeletu  would  receive  him,  but  to  his 
great  relief  and  satisfaction  he  found  him  actuated  by  the 
most  kindly  feelings.  He  found  him,  boy  as  he  was,  full 
of  vague  expectations  of  benefits,  marvellous  and  mira- 
culous, which  the  missionaries  were  to  bring.  It  was 
Livingstone's  first  work  to  disabuse  his  mind  of  these 
expectations,  and  let  him  understand  that  his  supreme 
object  was  to  teach  them  the  way  of  salvation  through 
Jesus  Christ.  To  a  certain  extent  Sekeletu  was  inter- 
ested in  this  : — 

"  He  asked  many  sensible  questions  about  the  system  of  Christianity 
in  connection  with  the  putting  away  of  wives.  They  are  always 
furnished  with  objections  sooner  than  with  the  information.  I  com- 
mended him  for  asking  me,  and  will  begin  a  course  of  instruction 
to-morrow.  He  fears  that  learning  to  read  Avill  change  his  heart,  and 
make  him  put  aw.ay  his  wives.  Much  depends  on  his  decision.  ^May 
God  influence  his  heart  to  decide  aright  !" 

Two  days  after  Livingstone  says  in  his  Journal : — 

"  1st  June. — The  chief  presented  eight  large  and  three  small  tusks 
this  morning.  I  told  him  and  his  people  I  would  rather  see  them 
trading  than  giving  them  to  me.  They  replied  that  they  Avould  get 
trade  with  George  Fleming,  and  that,  too,  as  soon  as  he  was  well ;  but 
these  they  gave  to  their  father,  and  they  were  just  as  any  other 


1852-53.]  FROM  THE  CAPE  TO  LINYANTL  141 

present,  Tlicy  asked  after  the  gun-medicine,  believing  that  now  my 
heart  would  be  warm  enough  to  tell  them  anything,  but  I  could  not 
tell  them  a  lie.  I  offered  to  show  Sekeletu  how  to  shoot,  and  that 
was  all  the  medicine  I  knew.  I  felt  as  if  I  should  have  been  more 
pleased  had  George  been  amassing  ivory  than  I.  Yet  this  may  be  an 
indisjiensable  step  in  the  progress  towards  opening  the  west.  I  must 
have  funds  ;  and  here  they  come  pouring  in.  It  would  be  impossible 
to  overlook  His  providence  Avho  has  touched  their  hearts.  I  have 
used  no  undue  influence.  Indeed  I  have  used  none  directly  for  the 
purpose.  Kindness  shown  has  been  appreciated  here,  while  much 
greater  kindness  shown  to  tribes  in  the  south  has  resulted  in  a  belief 
we  missionaries  must  be  fools.  I  do  thank  my  God  sincerely  for  His 
fa^■our,  and  my  hearty  prayer  is  that  He  may  continue  it,  and  make 
whatever  use  He  pleases  of  me,  and  may  He  have  mercy  on  this 
people!" 

Dr.  Livingstone  was  careful  to  guard  against  tlie 
supposition  that  he  allowed  Sekeletu  to  enrich  him  with- 
out recompence,  and  in  his  Journal  he  sets  down  a  list  of 
the  various  articles  presented  by  himself  to  the  chief, 
including  three  goats,  some  fowls,  powder,  Avire,  flints, 
percussion  caps,  an  umbrella  and  a  hat,  the  value  of  the 
whole  being  £31,  16s.  When  Sekeletu  knew  Dr.  Living- 
stone's plans,  he  undertook  that  he  should  be  provided 
with  all  requisites  for  his  journey.  But  he  was  most 
anxious  to  retain  him,  and  for  some  time  would  not  let 
him  go.  Livingstone  had  fascinated  him.  Sekeletu  said 
that  he  had  found  a  new  father.  And  Livingstone 
pondered  the  possibility  of  establishing  a  station  here. 
But  the  fever,  the  fever  !  could  he  bring  his  family  ?  He 
must  pass  on  and  look  for  a  healthier  spot.  His  desire 
was  to  proceed  to  the  country  of  the  Barotse.  At  length, 
on  the  16th  June,  Sekeletu  gives  his  answer : — 

"  The  chief  has  acceded  to  my  request  to  jiroceed  to  Barotse  and 
see  the  country.  I  told  him  my  heart  was  sore,  because  having  left 
my  family  to  explore  his  land,  and,  if  possible,  find  a  suitable  location 
for  a  mission,  I  could  not  succeed,  because  detained  by  him  here.  He 
says  he  will  take  me  Avith  him.  He  does  not  like  to  part  with  me  at 
all.  He  is  obliged  to  consult  with  those  who  gave  their  opinion 
against  my  leaving.  But  it  is  certain  I  am  permitted  to  go.  Thanks 
be  to  God  for  influencing  their  hearts  ! " 


143  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  vii. 

Before  we  set  out  with  tlie  chief  on  this  journey, 
it  will  be  well  to  give  a  few  extracts  from  Livingstone's 
Journal,  showing  how  unwearied  were  his  eftbrts  to  teach 
the  people : — 

"/>«n/c'.s  of  Chohc,  Sunday,  May  I5th. — Preached  twice  to  about 
sixty  people.     Very  attentive.     It  is  only  divine  power  Avluch   can 

enlighten   dark  minds  as  these The   people  seem  to  receive 

ideas  on'  divine  sul^jects  slowly.  They  listen,  but  never  suppose  that 
the  truths  must  become  embodied  in  actual  life.  They  Avill  wait  until 
the  chief  becomes  a  Christian,  and  if  he  believes,  then  they  refuse  to 
folloAV, — as  was  the  case  among  the  Bakwains.  Procrastination  seems 
as  powerful  an  instrument  of  deception  here  as  elsewhere." 

^^  Sunday,  12th  June. — A  good  and  very  attentive  audience.  "We 
introduce  entirely  new  motives,  and  were  these  not  perfectly  adapted 
for  the  human  mind  and  heart  by  their  divine  Author,  we  should  have 
no  success." 

''  Sunday,  lS)fh  June. — A  good  and  attentive  audience,  but  immedi- 
ately after  the  service  I  went  to  see  a  sick  man,  and  when  I  returned 
towards  the  Kotla,  I  found  the  Chief  had  retired  into  a  hut  to  drink 
beer ;  and,  as  the  custom  is,  about  forty  men  were  standing  singing  to 
him,  or,  in  other  words,  begging  beer  by  that  means.  A  minister  who 
had  not  seen  so  much  pioneer  service  as  I  have  done  Avould  have  been 
shocked  to  see  so  little  effect  produced  by  an  earnest  discourse  con- 
cerning the  future  judgment,  but  time  must  be  given  to  allow  the 
truth  to  sink  into  the  dark  mind,  and  produce  its  effect.  The  earth 
shall  be  filled  Avith  the  knowledge  of  the  glory  of  the  Lord — that  is 
enough.  We  can  afford  to  work  in  faith,  for  Omnipotence  is  pledged 
to  fulfil  the  promise.  The  great  mountains  become  a  j^lain  before  the 
Almighty  arm.  The  poor  Bushman,  the  most  degraded  of  all  Adam's 
family,  shall  see  His  glory,  and  the  dwellers  in  the  Avilderness  shall 
bow  before  Him.  The  ol)stacles  to  the  coming  of  the  Kingdom  are 
mighty,  but  come  it  will  for  all  that : — 

'  Then  let  us  pray  that  come  it  may, 
As  come  it  will  for  a'  that, 
Thiit  man  to  man  the  world  o'er 
Shall  brothers  be  for  a'  that.' 

"The  hard  and  cold  unbelief  which  distinguished  the  last  century, 
and  Avhich  is  still  aped  by  would-be  philosophers  in  the  present,  would 
sneer  at  our  faith,  and  call  it  superstition,  enthusiasm,  etc.  But  Avere 
we  believers  in  human  progress  and  no  more,  there  must  be  a  glorious 
future  for  our  world.  Our  dreams  must  come  true,  even  though  they 
are  no  more  than  dreams.     The  Avorld  is  rolling  on  to  the  golden 

age Discoveries    and    inventions    are    cumulative.       Another 

century  must  present  a  totally  different  aspect  from  the  present.  And 
when  we  view  the  state  of  the  Avorld  and  its  advancing  energies,  in  the 


1852-53.]  FROM  THE  CAFE  TO  LJNYANTI.  143 

light  afforded  by  cliildlike,  or  call  it  childish,  faith,  we  see  the  earth 
filling  with  the  knowledge  of  the  glory  of  God, — ay,  all  nations 
seeing  His  glory  and  bowing  before  Him  whose  right  it  is  to  reign. 
Our  work  and  its  fruits  are  cumulative.  We  work  towards  another 
state  of  things.  Future  nussionaries  will  be  rewarded  by  conversions 
for  every  sermon.  We  are  their  pioneers  and  helpers.  Let  them  not 
forget  the  watchmen  of  the  night — us,  Avho  worked  when  all  was 
gloom,  and  no  evidence  of  success  in  the  way  of  conversion  cheered 
our  paths.  They  will  doubtless  have  more  light  than  we,  but  we 
served  our  Master  earnestly,  and  proclaimed  the  same  gosi^el  as  they 
will  do." 

Of  the  services  which  Livingstone  held  with  the  people, 
we  have  the  following  picture  : — 

"  When  I  stand  up,  all  the  women  and  children  draw  near,  and, 
having  ordered  silence,  I  explain  the  plan  of  salvation,  the  goodness 
of  God  in  sending  His  Son  to  die,  the  confirmation  of  His  mission  by 
miracles,  the  last  judgment  or  future  state,  the  evil  of  sin,  God's 
commands  respecting  it,  etc. ;  alvv^ays  choosing  one  subject  only  for  an 
address,  and  taking  care  to  make  it  short  and  plain,  and  applicable  to 
them.  This  address  is  listened  to  with  great  attention,  by  most  of 
the  audience.  A  short  prayer  concludes  the  service,  all  kneeling  down, 
and  remaining  so  till  told  to  rise.  At  first  we  have  to  enjoin  on  the 
women  who  have  children  to  remain  sitting,  for  Avhen  they  kneel,  they 
squeeze  their  children,  and  a  simultaneous  skirl  is  set  up  by  the  whole 
troop  of  youngsters,  who  make  the  prayer  inaudible." 

When  Livingstone  and  Sekeletu  had  gone  about 
sixty  miles  on  the  way  to  the  Barotse,  they  encountered 
Mpepe,  Sekeletu's  half-brother  and  secret  rival.  It 
turned  out  that  Mpepe  had  a  secret  plan  for  killing 
Sekeletu,  and  that  three  times  on  the  day  of  their 
meeting  that  plan  was  frustrated  by  apparently  acciden- 
tal causes.  On  one  of  these  occasions,  Livingstone,  by 
covering  Sekeletu,  prevented  him  from  being  s|)eared, 
Mpepe's  treachery  becoming  known,  he  was  arrested  by 
Sekeletu's  people,  and  promptly  put  to  death.  The 
episode  was  not  agreeable,  but  it  illustrated  savage 
life.  It  turned  out  that  Mpepe  favoured  the  slave- 
trade,  and  was  closely  engaged  with  certain  Portuguese 
traders  in  intrigues  for  establishing  and  extending  it. 
Had  Sekeletu  been  killed,  Livingstone's  enterprise  would 


144  BA  VI D  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  vii. 

certainly  Lave  been  put  an  end  to,  and  very  probably 
likewise  Livingstone  himself. 

The  party,  numbering  about  one  hundred  and  sixty, 
proceeded  up  the  beautifid  river  which  on  his  former  visit 
Livingstone  had  first  known  as  the  Sesheke,  but  which 
was  called  by  the  Barotse,  the  Liambai  or  Leeambye. 
The  term  means  "the  large  river,"  and  Luambeji,  Luam- 
besi,  Ambezi,  Yimbezi,  and  Zambezi  are  names  applied  to 
it  at  different  parts  of  its  course.  In  the  progress  of  their 
journey  they  came  to  the  town  of  the  father  of  Mpepe, 
where,  most  unexpectedly,  Livingstone  encountered  a 
horrible  scene.  Mpepe's  father  and  another  headman 
were  known  to  have  favoured  the  plan  for  the  murder 
of  Sekeletu,  and  were  therefore  objects  of  fear  to  the 
latter.  When  all  were  met,  and  Mpepe's  father  was 
questioned  why  he  did  not  stop  his  son's  proceedings, 
Sekeletu  suddenly  sprang  to  his  feet  and  gave  the  tw^o 
men  into  custody.  All  had  been  planned  beforehand. 
Forthwith  they  were  led  away,  surrounded  by  Sekeletu's 
warriors,  all  dream  of  opposition  on  their  part  being  as 
useless  as  interference  would  have  been  on  Livingstone's. 
Before  his  eyes  he  saw  them  hewn  to  pieces  with  axes, 
and  cast  into  the  river  to  be  devoured  by  the  alligators. 
Within  two  hours  of  their  arrival  the  whole  party  had 
left  the  scene  of  this  shocking  tragedy,  Livingstone 
being  so  horrified  that  he  could  not  remain.  He  did 
his  best  to  show  the  sin  of  blood-guiltiness,  and  bring 
before  the  people  the  scene  of  the  Last  Judgment, 
which  was  the  only  thing  that  seemed  to  make  any 
impression. 

Farther  on  his  way,  he  had  an  interview  with 
Ma-mochisane,  the  daughter  of  Sebituane  who  had  re- 
signed in  favour  of  Sekeletu.  He  was  the  first  white 
man  she  had  ever  seen.  The  interview  was  pleasing  and 
not  without  touches  of  womanly  character ;  the  poor 
woman  had  felt  an  emhcwras  de  richesses  in  the  matter  of 


1852-53]  FROM  THE  CAPE  TO  LINYANTI.  145 

husbands,  and  was  very  uncomfortable  when  married 
women  complamed  of  her  taking  their  spouses  from  them. 
Her  soul  recoiled  from  the  business ;  she  wished  to  have 
a  husband  of  her  own  and  to  be  like  other  women. 

So  anxious  was  Livingstone  to  find  a  healthy  locality, 
that,  leaving  Sekeletu,  he  proceeded  to  the  farthest  limit  of 
the  Barotse  country,  but  no  healthy  place  could  be  found. 
It  is  plain,  however,  that  in  spite  of  all  risk,  and  much  as 
he  suffered  from  the  fever,  he  was  planning,  if  no  better 
place  could  be  found,  to  return  himself  to  Linyanti  and  be 
the  Makololo  missionaiy.  Not  just  immediately,  however. 
Having  failed  in  the  first  object  of  his  jom-ney — to  find  a 
healthy  locality — he  was  resolved  to  follow  out  the  second, 
and  endeavour  to  discover  a  highway  to  the  sea.  First 
he  would  try  the  west  coast,  and  the  point  for  which  he 
would  make  was  St.  Paul  de  Loanda.  He  might  have 
found  a  nearer  way,  but  a  Portuguese  trader  whom  he 
had  met,  and  from  whom  he  had  received  kindness,  was 
going  by  that  route  to  St.  Philip  de  Benguela.  The 
trader  was  implicated  in  the  slave-trade,  and  Livingstone 
knew  what  a  disadvantage  it  would  be  either  to  accompany 
or  to  follow  him.  He  therefore  returned  to  Linyanti ; 
and  there  began  preparations  for  the  journey  to  Loanda 
on  the  coast. 

During  the  time  thus  spent  in  the  Barotse  country, 
Livino'stone  saw  heathenism  in  its  most  unadulterated 
form.  It  was  a  painful,  loathsome,  and  horrible  spectacle. 
His  views  of  the  Fall  and  of  the  corruption  of  human 
nature  were  certainly  not  lightened  by  the  sight.  In  his 
Journal  he  is  constantly  letting  fall  expressions  of  weari- 
ness at  the  noise,  the  excitement,  the  wild  savage  dancing, 
the  heartless  cruelty,  the  utter  disregard  of  feelings,  the 
destruction  of  children,  the  drudgery  of  the  old  people, 
the  atrocious  miu-ders  with  which  he  was  •  in  contact. 
Occasionally  he  would  think  of  other  scenes  of  travel ;  if 
a  friend,  for  example,  were  going  to  Palestine,  he  would 

K 


146  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  vii. 

say  how  gladly  lie  would  kiss  the  dust  that  had  been 
trod  by  the  Man  of  Sorrows,  One  day  a  poor  girl  comes 
hungry  and  naked  to  the  wagons,  and  is  relieved  from 
time  to  time ;  then  disappears  to  die  in  the  woods  of 
starvation  or  be  torn  in  pieces  by  the  hyenas.  Another 
day,  as  he  is  preaching,  a  boy,  walking  along  with  his 
mother,  is  suddenly  seized  by  a  man,  utters  a  shriek  as  if 
his  heart  had  burst,  and  becomes,  as  Livingstone  finds,  a 
hopeless  slave.  Another  time,  the  sickening  sight  is  a 
line  of  slaves  attached  by  a  chain.  That  chain  haunts 
and  harrows  him. 

Amid  all  his  difficulties  he  patiently  pursued  his  work 
as  missionary.  Twice  every  Sunday  he  preached,  usually 
to  good  audiences,  the  number  rising  on  occasions  so  high 
as  a  thousand.  It  was  a  great  work  to  sow  the  good  seed 
so  widely,  where  no  Christian  man  had  ever  been,  pro- 
claiming every  Lord's  Day  to  fresh  ears  the  message  of 
Divine  love.  Sometimes  he  was  in  great  hopes  that  a 
true  impression  had  been  made.  But  usually,  whenever 
the  service  was  over,  the  wild  savage  dance  with  all  its 
demon  noises  succeeded,  and  the  missionary  could  but 
look  on  and  sigh.  So  ready  was  he  for  labour  that  when 
he  could  get  any  willing  to  learn,  he  commenced  teaching 
them  the  alphabet.  But  he  was  continually  met  by  the 
notion  that  his  religion  was  a  religion  of  medicines,  and 
that  all  the  good  it  could  do  was  by  charms.  Intellectual 
culture  seemed  indispensable  to  dissipate  this  inveterate 
superstition  regarding  Christian  influence. 

A  few  extracts  from  his  Journal  in  the  Barotse  country 
will  more  vividly  exhibit  his  state  of  mind  : — 

"  11  til  August  1853. — The  more  intimately  I  become  acquainted 
■with  barbarians,  the  more  disgusting  does  heathenism  become.  It  is 
inconceivaljly  vile.  They  are  always  boasting  of  their  fierceness,  yet 
dare  not  visit  another  tribe  for  fear  of  being  killed.  They  never  visit 
anvwhere  but  for  the  purpose  of  plunder  and  oppression.  They  never 
uo  anyAvhere  but  v/ith  a  club  or  s})ear  in  hand.  It  is  lamentable  to 
see  those  who  mi^ht  be  children  of  God,  dwelling  in  peace  and  love, 


1852-53-]  FROM  THE  CAPE  TO  LINYANTI.  147 

so  utterly  the  children  of  the  devil,  dwelling  in  fear  and  continual 
irritation.  They  bestow  honours  and  flattering  titles  on  me  in  con- 
fusing profusion.  All  from  the  least  to  the  greatest  call  me  Father, 
Lord,  etc.,  and  bestow  food  without  any  recompence,  out  of  pure 
kindness.  They  need  a  healer.  May  God  enable  me  to  be  such  to 
them.  .  .  . 

"  3I5/  August. — The  slave-trade  seems  pushed  into  the  very  centre 
of  the  continent  from  both  sides.     It  must  be  profitable.  .  .  . 

"  September  25,  Sunday. — A  quiet  audience  to-day.  The  seed 
being  sown,  the  least  of  all  seeds  now,  but  it  Avill  grow  a  mighty  tree. 
It  is  as  it  were  a  small  stone  cut  out  of  a  mountain,  but  it  will  fill  the 
whole  earth.  He  that  believeth  shall  not  make  haste.  ■  Surely  if 
God  can  bear  with  hardened  impenitent  sinners  for  thirty,  forty,  or  fifty 
years,  waiting  to  be  gracious,  we  may  take  it  for  granted  that  His  is 
the  best  Avay.  He  could  destroy  His  enemies,  but  He  waits  to  be 
gracious.  To  become  irritated  with  their  stubbornness  and  hardness 
of  heart  is  ungodlike.  .  .  . 

"  1  Wi  October. — Missionaries  ought  to  cultivate  a  taste  for  the 
beautiful.  "We  are  necessarily  compelled  to  contemplate  much  moral 
impurity  and  degradation.  We  are  so  often  doomed  to  disappoint- 
ment. We  are  apt  to  become  either  callous  or  melancholy,  or,  if 
preserved  from  these,  the  constant  strain  on  the  sensibilities  is  likely 
to  injure  the  bodily  health.  On  this  account  it  seems  necessary  to 
cultivate  that  faculty  for  the  gratification  of  which  God  has  made  such 
universal  provision.  See  the  green  earth  and  blue  sky,  the  lofty 
mountain  and  the  A-erdant  valley,  the  glorious  orbs  of  day  and  night, 
and  the  starry  canopy  with  all  their  celestial  splendour,  the  graceful 
flowers  so  chaste  in  form  and  perfect  in  colouring.  The  various 
forms  of  animated  life  present  to  him  whose  heart  is  at  peace  with 
God  through  the  blood  of  His  Son  an  indescribable  charm.  He  sees 
in  the  calm  beauties  of  nature  such  abundant  provision  for  the  welfare 
of  humanity  and  animate  existence.  There  appears  on  the  quiet 
repose  of  earth's  scenery  the  benignant  smile  of  a  Father's  love.  The 
sciences  exhibit  such  wonderful  intelligence  and  design  in  all  their 
various  ramifications,  some  time  ought  to  be  devoted  to  them  before 
engaging  in  missionary  work.  The  heart  may  often  be  cheered  by 
observing  the  operation  of  an  ever-present  intelligence,  and  Ave  may 
feel  that  Ave  are  leaning  on  His  bosom  Avhile  liA^ng  in  a  world  clothed 
in  beauty,  and  robed  Avith  the  glorious  perfections  of  its  maker  and 
l^reserver.  We  must  feel  that  there  is  a  Governor  among  the  nations 
Avho  Avill  bring  all  His  plans  Avith  respect  to  our  human  family  to  a 
glorious  consummation.  He  Avho  stays  his  mind  on  his  ever-present, 
ever-energetic  God,  Avill  not  fret  himself  because  of  evil-doers.  He 
that  believeth  shall  not  make  haste." 

"  26th  October. — I  have  not  yet  met  Avith  a  beautiful  Avoman  among 
the  black  people,  and  I  haA'e  seen  many  thousands  in  a  great  A^ariety 
of  tribes.     I  have  seen  a  feAv  Avho  might  be  called  passable,  but  none 


148  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  vii. 

at  all  to  be  compared  to  what  one  may  meet  among  English  servant- 
girls.  Some  beauties  are  said  to  be  found  among  the  Caff  res,  but 
among  the  people  I  have  seen  I  cannot  conceive  of  any  Euroj)ean  being 
captivated  with  them.  The  wliole  of  my  experience  goes  towards 
proving  that  civilisation  alone  produces  beauty,  and  exposure  to  the 
weather  and  other  vicissitudes  tend  to  the  production  of  deformation 
and  ugliness.  .  .  . 

"  28//i  October. — The  conduct  of  the  people  whom  we  have  brought 
from  Kuruman  shows  that  no  amount  of  preaching  or  instruction  will 
insure  real  piety.  .  .  .  The  old  superstitions  cannot  be  driven  out  of 
their  minds  by  faith  implanted  by  preaching.  They  have  not  vanished 
-in  either  England  or  Scotland  yet,  after  the  lapse  of  centuries  of 
preaching.  Kuruman,  the  entire  population  of  which  amounted  in 
1853  to  638  souls,  enjoys  and  has  enjoyed  the  labours  of  at  least  two 
missionaries, — four  sermons,  two  prayer-meetings,  infant  schools,  adult 
schools,  sewing  schools,  classes,  books,  etc.,  and  the  amount  of  visible 
success  is  very  gratifying,  a  remarkable  change  indeed  from  the  former 
state  of  these  peojile.  Yet  the  dregs  of  heathenism  still  cleave  fast  to 
the  minds  of  the  majority.  They  have  settled  deep  down  into  their 
souls,  and  one  century  will  not  be  sufficient  to  elevate  them  to  the 
rank  of  Christians  in  Britain.  The  double  influence  of  the  spirit  of 
commerce  and  the  gospel  of  Christ  has  given  an  impulse  to  the  civi- 
lisation of  men.  The  circulation  of  ideas  and  commodities  over  the 
face  of  the  earth,  and  the  discovery  of  the  gold  regions  have  given 
enhanced  rapidity  to  commerce  in  other  countries,  and  the  diflusion  of 
knowledge.  But  what  for  Africa  1  God  will  do  something  else  for  it ; 
something  just  as  wonderful  and  unexpected  as  the  discovery  of  gold" 

It  needs  not  to  be  said  that  his  thoughts  were  very 
often  with  his  wife  and  children.  A  tender  letter  to  the 
four  little  ones  shows  that  thoiio-h  some  of  them  miofht 
be  beginning-  to  forget  him,  their  names  were  written 
imperishably  on  his  heart : — 

"  SehelHus  Town,  Linyanti,  2d  October. — My  dear  Egbert,  Agnes, 
AND  Thomas  and  Oswell, — Here  is  another  little  letter  for  you 
all.  I  should  like  to  see  you  much  more  than  w^ite  to  you,  and 
speak  with  my  tongue  rather  than  Avith  my  pen  ;  but  we  are  far  from 
each  other — very,  very  far.  Here  are  Seipone,  and  Meriye  and  others 
who  saw  you  as  the  first  white  children  they  ever  looked  at.  Meriye 
came  the  other  day  and  brought  a  round  basket  for  Nannie.  She 
made  it  of  the  leaves  of  the  palmyra.  Others  put  me  in  mind  of  you 
all  by  calling  me  Rananee,  and  Rarobcrt,  and  there  is  a  little  Thomas 
in  the  town,  and  when  I  think  of  you  I  remember,  though  I  am  far 
off,  Jesus,  our  good  and  gracious  Jesus,  is  ever  near  both  you  and  me, 
and  then  I  pray  to  Him  to  bless' you  and  make  you  good. 


IS52-S3-]  FROM  THE  CAPE  TO  LINYANTL  149 

"  He  is  ever  near.  Remember  this  if  you  feel  angry  or  naughty. 
Jesus  is  near  you,  and  sees  you,  and  He  is  so  good  and  kind.  When 
He  was  among  men,  those  Avho  heard  Him  speak  said,  '  Never  man 
spake  like  this  man,'  and  we  now  say,  *  Never  did  man  love  like  Him.' 
You  see  little  Zouga  is  carried  on  mamma's  bosom.  You  are  taken 
care  of  by  Jesus  with  as  much  care  as  mamma  takes  of  Zouga.  He  is 
always  Avatching  you  and  keeping  you  in  safety.  It  is  very  bad  to  sin, 
to  do  any  naughty  things,  or  speak  angry  or  naughty  words  before 
Him. 

"My  dear  children,  take  Him  as  your  Guide,  your  Helper,  your 
Friend,  and  Saviour  through  life.  "Whatever  you  are  troubled  about 
ask  Him  to  keep  you.  Our  God  is  good.  AVe  thank  Him  that  we 
have  such  a  Saviour  and  Friend  as  He  is.  Now  you  are  little,  but  you 
will  not  always  be  so,  hence  you  must  learn  to  read,  and  write,  and 
Avork.  All  clever  men  can  both  read  and  write,  and  Jesus  needs 
clever  men  to  do  His  work.  Would  you  not  like  to  work  for  Him 
among  men  %  Jesus  is  Avishing  to  send  His  gospel  to  all  nations,  and 
He  needs  clever  men  to  do  this.  Would  you  like  to  serve  Him] 
Well,  you  must  learn  now,  and  not  get  tii'ed  learning.  After  some 
time  you  will  like  learning  better  than  playing,  but  you  must  play  too 
in  order  to  make  your  bodies  strong  and  be  able  to  serve  Jesus. 

"  I  am  glad  to  hear  that  you  go  to  the  academy.  I  hope  you  are 
learning  fast.  Don't  speak  Scotch.  It  is  not  so  pretty  as  English. 
Is  the  Tau  learning  to  read  Avith  mamma  %  I  hope  you  are  all  kind  to 
mamma.  I  saw  a  poor  Avoman  in  a  chain  Avith  many  others,  up  at  the 
Barotse.  She  had  a  little  child,  and  both  she  and  her  child  Avere  very 
thin.  See  hoAv  kind  Jesus  Avas  to  you.  No  one  can  put  you  in  chains 
unless  you  become  bad.  If,  hoAvever,  you  learn  bad  Avays,  beginning 
only  by  saying  bad  Avords  or  doing  little  bad  things,  Satan  Avill  have 
you  in  the  chains  of  sin,  and  you  Avill  be  hurried  on  in  his  bad  ways 
till  you  are  put  into  the  dreadful  place  Avhich  God  hath  prepared  for 
him  and  all  who  are  like  him.  Pray  to  Jesus  to  deliver  you  from  sin, 
give  you  ncAv  hearts,  and  make  you  His  children.  Kiss  Zouga,  mamma, 
and  each  other  for  me. — Your  ever  affectionate  father, 

"  D.  Livingston." 

A  letter  toliis  father  and  other  relations  at  Hamilton, 
30th  September  1853,  is  of  a  somewhat  apologetic  and 
explanatory  cast.  Some  of  his  friends  had  the  notion 
that  he  should  have  settled  somewhere,  "  preaching  the 
simple  gospel,"  and  converting  people  by  every  sermon  : 

"  You  see  Avhat  they  make  of  the  gospel,  and  my  conversation  on 
it,  in  Avhich  my  inmost  heart  yearned  for  their  conversion.  Many 
now  think  Jesus  and  Sebituane  very  much  the  same  sort  of  person.  I 
Avas  prevented  by  fever  and  other  matters  from  at  once  following  up 


I50  DA  VI D  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  vii. 

tl\e  glorious  object  of  this  journey  :  auz.,  while  preaching  the  gospel 
beyond  every  other  man's  line  of  things  made  ready  to  our  liands,  to  dis- 
cover a  healthy  location  for  a  mission,  and  I  determined  to  improve  the 
time  by  teaching  to  read.  This  produced  profound  deliberation  and 
lengthened  jDalavers,  and  at  length  the  chief  told  me  that  he  feared 
learning  to  read  ■would  change  his  heart  and  make  him  content  Avith 
one  wife  like  Sechele.  He  has  four.  It  Avas  in  vain  I  urged  that  the 
change  contemplated  made  the  affair  as  voluntary  as  if  he  would  now 
change  his  mind  from  four  to  thirty,  as  his  father  had.  He  could  not 
realise  the  change  that  would  give  relish  to  any  other  system  than  the 
present.  He  felt  as  the  man  who  is  mentioned  by  Serle  as  saying  he 
Avould  not  like  to  go  to  heaven  to  be  employed  for  ever  singing  and 
praising  on  a  bare  cloud  without  anything  to  eat  or  drink.  .  .  . 

"  The  conversion  of  a  few,  however  valuable  their  souls  may  be, 
cannot  be  put  into  the  scale  against  the  knowledge  of  the  truth  spread 
over  the  whole  country.  In  this  I  do  and  will  exult.  As  in  India,  we 
are  doomed  to  perpetual  disappointment ;  but  the  knowledge  of 
Christ  spreads  over  the  masses.  AVe  are  like  voices  cr3ing  in  the 
wilderness.  AVe  prepare  the  way  for  a  glorious  future  in  which  mis- 
■  sionaries  telling  the  same  tale  of  love  will  convert  by  every  sermon.  I 
am  trying  now  to  establish  the  Lord's  kingdom  in  a  region  wider  by 
far  than  Scotland.  Fever  seems  to  forbid  ;  but  I  shall  Avork  for  the 
glory  of  Christ's  kingdom — fever  or  no  fever.  All  the  intelligent  men 
AA'ho  direct  our  society  and  understand  the  nature  of  my  movements, 
support  me  Avarmly.  A  feAv,  I  understand,  in  Africa,  in  Avriting  home, 
have  styled  my  efforts  as  '  Avanderiugs.'  The  very  Avord  contains  a  lie 
coiled  like  a  serjient  in  its  bosom.  It  means  travelling  without  an 
object,  or  uselessly,'  I  am  noAv  performing  the  duty  of  Avriting  you.  If 
this  Avere  termed  '  dawdling,'  it  Avould  be  as  true  as  the  other.  .  .  . 
I  have  actually  seen  letters  to  the  Directors  in  Avhich  I  am  gravely 
charged  Avith  holding  the  views  of  the  Plymouth  Brethren.  So  very 
sure  am  I  that  I  am  in  the  path  Avhich  God's  Providence  has  pointed 
out,  as  that  by  Avhich  Christ's  kingdom  is  to  be  promoted,  that  if  the 
Society  should  object,  I  Avould  consider  it  my  duty  to  AvithdraAV  from 
it.  .  .  . 

"  P.>S'. — My  throat  became  Avell  during  the  long  silence  of  travelling 
across  the  desert.  It  plagues  again  now  that  I  am  preaching  in  a 
moist  climate." 

I  Dr.  Livingstone  now  began  his  preparations  for  the 
journey  from  Linyanti  to  Loanda.  Sekeletu  was  kind  and 
generous.  The  road  was  impracticable  for  wagons,  and 
the  native  trader,  George  Fleming,  returned  to  Kuruman. 
The  Kuruman  guides  had  not  done  well,  so  that  Living- 
stone resolved  to  send  them  back,  and  to  get  Makololo 


1852-53-]  FROM  THE  CAPE  TO  LINYANTL  151 

men  instead.     Here  is  the  record  of  his  last  Sunday  at 
Linyanti : — 

"  Wi  Nov.  1853. —  Large  audience.  Kuruman  people  don't  attend. 
If  it  is  a  fashion  to  be  church-going,  many  are  drawn  into  its  observ- 
ance. But  placed  in  other  circumstances,  the  true  character  comes 
out.  This  is  the  case  Avith  many  Scotchmen.  May  God  so  imbue 
my  mind  ■with  the  spirit  of  Christianity  that  in  all  circumstances  I 
may  show  my  Christian  character  !  Had  a  long  conversation  with 
Motlube,  chiefly  on  a  charm  for  defending  the  town  or  for  gun  medi- 
cine. They  tliink  I  know  it  but  Avill  not  impart  the  secret  to  them.  I 
used  every  form  of  expression  to  undeceive  liim,  but  to  little  purpose. 
Their  belief  in  medicine  which  will  enable  them  to  shoot  well  is  very 
strong,  and  simple  trust  in  an  unseen  Saviour  to  defend  them  against 
such  enemies  as  the  Matebele  is  too  simple  for  them.  I  asked  if  a 
little  charcoal  sewed  up  in  a  bag  were  a  more  feasible  protector  than 
He  who  made  all  things,  and  told  them  that  one  day  they  would  laugh 
heartily  at  their  own  follies  in  bothering  me  so  much  for  gun  medi- 
cine. A  man  who  has  never  had  to  do  with  a  raw  heathen  tribe  has 
yet  to  learn  the  Missionary  A  B  C." 

On  the  8  th  he  writes  : — 

"  Our  intentions  are  to  go  up  the  Leeba  till  we  reach  the  falls, 
then  send  back  the  canoe  and  proceed  in  the  country  beyond  as  best 
we  can.  Matiamvo  is  far  beyond,  but  the  Cassantse  (probably 
Cassange)  live  on  the  west  of  the  river.  May  God  in  mercy  permit  me 
to  do  something  for  the  cause  of  Christ  in  these  dark  places  of  the 
earth  !  May  He  accept  my  children  for  His  service, -and  sanctify  them 
for  it  !  My  blessing  on  my  wife.  May  God  comfort  her  !  If  my 
■watch  comes  back  after  I  am  (?ht  off,  it  belongs  to  Agnes.  If  my 
sextant,  it  is  Robert's.  The  Paris  medal  to  Thomas.  Double-barrelled 
gun  to  Zouga.  Be  a  Father  to  the  fatherless,  and  a  Husband  to  the 
widow^,  for  Jesus'  sake." 

The  probability  of  his  falling  was  full  in  his  view. 
But  the  thought  was  ever  in  his  mind,  and  ever  finding 
expression  in  letters  both  to  the  Missionary  and  the  / 
Geographical  Societies,  and  to  all  his  friends, — "  Can  the  \j 
love  of  Christ  not  carry  the  missionary  where  the  slave- 
trade  carries  the  trader?"  His  wagon  and  goods  were 
left  with  Sekel^tu,  and  also  the  Journal  from  which  these 
extracts  are  taken.  ^     It  was  well  for  him  that  his  con- 

1  This  Journal  is  mentioned  in  the  Misstoimrij  Travels  as  having  been  lost 
(p.  229).  It  was  afterwards  recovered.  It  contains,  among  other  things,  some 
important  notes  on  Natural  History. 


152  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  vii. 

viction  of  duty  was  clear  as  noonday.     A  year  after,  he 
wrote  to  his  father-in-law  : — 

"  I  had  fully  made  np  my  mind  as  to  the  path  of  duty  before 
starting.  I  wrote  to  my  brother-in-law,  Robert  Moffat :  '  I  shall  open 
up  a  path  into  the  interior,  or  perish.'  I  never  have  had  the  shadow 
of  a  shade  of  doubt  as  to  the  propriety  of  my  course,  and  wish  only 
that  my  exertions  may  be  honoured  so  far  that  the  gospel  may  be 
preached  and  believed  in  all  this  dark  region." 


1 853-54-]  FROM  LINYANTI  TO  LOANDA.  15: 


CHAPTEK  VIII. 

mOM    LINYANTI   TO    LOANDA. 
A.D.  1853-1854. 

Difficulties  and  hardships  of  journey— His  travelling  kit— Four  books— His 
Journal— Mode  of  travelling— Beauty  of  country— Repulsiveness  of  the 
people — Their  religious  belief— The  negro — Preaching— The  magic  lantern- 
Loneliness  of  feeling — Slave-trade— Management  of  the  natives — Danger 
from  Chiboque— from  another  chief— Livingstone  ill  of  fever — At  the  Quango 
— Attachment  of  followers— "  The  good  time  coming" — Portuguese  settle- 
ments— Great  kindness  of  the  Portuguese — Arrives  at  Loanda — Received  by 
Mr.  Gabriel— His  great  friendship— No  letters— News  through  Mr.  Gabriel — 
Li%'ingstone  becomes  acquainted  with  naval  officers — Resolves  to  go  back  to 
Linyanti  and  make  for  East  Coast— Letter  to  his  wife— Correspondence  with 
Mr.  Maclear — Accuracy  of  his  observations — Sir  John  Herschel — Geogi-aphi- 
cal  Society  award  their  gold  medal— Remarks  of  Lord  Ellesmere. 

The  journey  from  Linyanti  to  Loanda  occupied  from  the 
11th  November  1853  to  31st  May  1854.  It  was  in  many 
ways  the  most  difficult  and  dangerous  that  Livingstone 
had  yet  performed,  and  it  drew  out  in  a  very  wonderful 
manner  the  rare  combination  of  qualities  that  fitted  him 
for  his  work.  The  route  had  never  been  traversed,  so  far 
as  any  trustworthy  tradition  went,  by  any  European. 
With  the  exception  of  a  fev\'  of  Sekeletu's  tusks,  the  oxen 
needed  for  carrying,  and  a  trifling  amount  of  coffee,  cloth, 
beads,  etc.,  Livingstone  had  neither  stores  of  food  for  his 
party,  nor  presents  with  which  to  propitiate  the  countless 
tribes  of  rapacious  and  suspicious  savages  that  lined  his 
path.  The  Barotse  men  who  accompanied  him,  usually 
called  the  "  Makololo,"  though  on  the  whole  faithful  and 
patient,  "the  best  that  ever  accompanied    me,"  were  a 


154  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  viii. 

burden  in  one  sense,  as  much  as  a  help  m  another ; 
chicken-hearted,  ready  to  succumb  to  every  trouble,  and 
.to  be  cowed  by  any  chief  that  wore  a  threatening  face. 
/Worse  if  possible,  Livingstone  liimself  was  in  wretched 
health.  During  this  part  of  the  journey  he  had  constant 
attacks  of  intermittent  fever,-^  accompanied  in  the  latter 
stages  of  the  road  with  dysentery  of  the  most  distressing 
kind.  In  the  intervals  of  fever  he  was  often  depressed 
alike  in  body  and  in  mind.  Often  the  party  were  desti- 
tute of  food  of  any  sort,  and  never  had  they  food  suitable 
for  a  fever-stricken  invalid.  The  vexations  he  encountered 
were  of  no  common  kuid  :  at  starting,  the  greater  part  of 
his  medicines  was  stolen,  much  though  he  needed  them  ; 
in  the  course  of  the  journey,  his  pontoon  was  left  behind ; 
at  one  time,  while  he  was  under  the  influence  of  fever, 
his  ridmg-ox  threw  him,  and  he  fell  heavily  on  his  head ; 
at  another,  while  crossing  a  river,  the  ox  tossed  him  into 
the  water ;  the  heavy  rains,  and  the  necessity  of  wading 
through  streams  three  or  four  times  a  day,  kept  him 
almost  constantly  wet ;  and  occasionally,  to  vary  th? 
annoyance,  mosquitos  would  assail  him  as  fiercely  as  if 
they  had  been  waging  a  war  of  extermination.  The  most 
critical  moments  of  peril,  demanding  the  utmost  coolness 
and  most  dauntless  courage,  would  sometimes  occur  during 
the  stage  of  depression  after  fever ;  it  was  then  he  had  to 
extricate  himself  from  savao-e  warriors,  who  vowed  that 
he  must  go  back,  unless  he  gave  them  an  ox,  a  gun,  or  a 
man.  The  ox  he  could  ill  spare,  the  gun  not  at  all,  and 
as  for  giving  the  last — a  man — to  make  a  slave  of,  he 
would  sooner  die.  At  the  best,  he  was  a  poor  ragged 
skeleton  when  he  reached  those  who  had  hearts  to  feel 
for  him,  and  hands  to  help  him.  Had  he  not  been  a 
prodigy  of  patience,  faith,  and  courage,  had  he  not  known 
where  to  find  help  in  all  time  of  his  tribulation,  he  would 
never  have  reached  the  haunts  of  civilised  men. 

^  The  number  of  attacks  was  tliirtj'-one. 


1853-54-]  FROM  LINYANTI  TO  LOANDA.  155 

His  travelling-kit  was  reduced  to  tlie  smallest  possible 
bulk ;  that  lie  minded  little,  but  he  was  vexed  to  be 
able  to  take  so  few  books,  A  few  days  after  setting  out, 
he  writes  in  his  private  Journal : — 

"  I  feel  the  want  of  books  in  this  journey  more  than  anything  else. 
A  Sichuana  Pentateuch,  a  lined  journal,  Thomson's  Tables,  a  Nautical  ■ 
Almanac,  and  a  Bible,  constitute  my  stock.  The  last  constitutes  my 
chief  resource ;  but  the  want  of  other  mental  pabulum  is  felt  severely. 
There  is  little  to  interest  in  the  conversation  of  the  people.  Loud 
disputes  often  about  the  women,  and  angry  altercations  in  which  the 
same  string  of  abuse  is  used,  are  more  frequent  than  anything  else." 

The  "  lined  journal,"  of  which  mention  is  made  here, 
was  probably  the  most  wonderful  thing  of  the  kind  ever 
taken  on  such  a  journey.  It  is  a  strongly  bound  quarto 
volume  of  more  than  800  pages,  with  a  lock  and  key.  The 
writing  is  so  neat  and  clear  that  it  might  almost  be  taken 
for  lithograph.  Occasionally  there  is  a  page  with  letters 
beginning  to  sprawl,  as  if  one  of  those  times  had  come 
when  he  tells  us  that  he  could  neither  think  nor  speak, 
nor  tell  any  one's  name — possibly  not  even  his  own,  if  he 
had  been  asked  it.  He  used  to  jot  his  observations  on 
little  note-books,  and  extend  them  when  detained  by 
rain  or  other  causes. 

The  journal  differs  in  some  material  respects  from  the 
printed  record  of  this  journey.  It  is  much  more  explicit  in 
setting  forth  the  bad  treatment  he  often  received.  When 
he  spoke  of  these  things  to  the  public,  he  made  constant 
use  of  the  mantle  of  charity,  and  the  record  of  many  a  bad 
deed  and  many  a  bad  character  is  toned  down.  Naturally 
too,  the  journal  is  more  explicit  on  the  subject  of  his  own 
troubles,  and  more  free  in  recording  the  play  of  his  feel- 
ino^s.  It  does  not  hide  the  communinsfs  of  his  heart  with 
his  heavenly  Father.  It  is  built  up  in  a  random-rubble 
style  ;  here  a  solemn  prayer,  in  the  next  line  a  note  of 
lunar  observations  ;  then  a  dissertation  on  the  habits  of 
the  hippopotamus.  Notes  bearing  on  the  character,  the 
superstitions,   and    the    feelings   of  the   natives   are    of 


156  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  viii. 

frequent  occnrrence.  The  explanation  is,  that  Living- 
stone put  down  everything  as  it  came,  reserving  the 
arranging  and  digesting  of  the  whole  to  a  future  time. 
The  extremely  hurried  manner  in  which  he  was  obliged 
to  write  his  Missionary  Travels  prevented  him  from  ful- 
filling all  his  plan,  and  compelled  him  to  content  himself 
with  giving  to  the  public  then  what  could  be  put  most 
readily  together.  There  are  indications  that  he  contem- 
plated in  the  end  a  much  more  thorough  use  of  his 
materials.  It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  his  published 
volumes  contained  all  that  he  deemed  worthy  of  publica- 
tion, or  that  a  censure  is  due  to  those  who  reproduce 
some  portions  which  he  passed  over.  As  to  the  neat  and 
finished  form  in  w^hich  the  Journal  exists,  it  was  one  of 
the  many  fruits  of  a  strong  habit  of  orderliness  and  self- 
respect  which  he  had  begun  to  learn  at  the  hand  of  his 
mother,  and  which  he  practised  all  his  life.  Even  in  the 
matter  of  personal  cleanliness  and  dress  he  was  uniformly 
most  attentive  in  his  wanderings  among  savages.  "  I 
feel  certain,"  he  said,  "that  the  lessons  of  cleanliness 
rigidly  instilled  by  my  mother  in  childhood  helped  to 
maintain  that  respect  which  these  people  entertain  for 
European  ways." 

The  course  of  the  journey  was  first  along  the  river 
Zambesi,  as  he  had  gone  before  with  Sekeletu,  to  its 
junction  with  the  Leeba,  then  along  the  Leeba  to  the 
country  of  Lobale  on  the  left  and  Londa  on  the  right. 
Then,  leaving  the  canoes,  he  travelled  on  oxback  first 
N.N.w.  and  then  w.  till  he  reached  St.  Paul  de  Loanda 
on  the  coast.  His  Journal,  like  the  published  volume,  is 
full  of  observations  on  the  beauty  and  wonderful  capacity 
and  productiveness  of  the  country  through  which  he 
passed  after  leaving  the  river.  Instinctively  he  would 
compare  it  with  Scotland.  A  beautiful  valley  reminds 
him  of  his  native  vale  of  Clyde,  seen  from  the  spot 
where  Mary  Queen  of  Scots  saw  the  battle  of  Langside ; 


IS53-54-]  FROM  LTNYANTI  TO  LOANDA.  157 

only  tlie  Scottish  scene  is  but  a  miniature  of  tlie  much 
greater  and  richer  landscape  before  him.  At  the  sight  of 
the  mountains  he  would  feel  his  Hiofhland  blood  rushinof 
through  him,  banishing  all  thoughts  of  fever  and  fatigue. 
If  only  the  blessings  of  the  gospel  could  be  spread  among 
the  people,  what  a  glorious  land  it  would  become  !  But 
alas  for  the  people  !  In  most  cases  they  were  outwardly 
very  repulsive.  Never  seen  without  a  spear  or  a  club  in 
their  hands,  the  men  seemed  only  to  delight  in  plunder 
and  slaughter,  and  yet  they  were  utter  cowards.  Their 
mouths  were  full  of  cursing  and  bitterness.  The  execra- 
tions they  poured  on  each  other  were  incredible.  In 
very  wantonness,  when  they  met  they  would  pelt  each 
other  with  curses,  and  then  perhaps  burst  into  a  fit  of 
laughter.  The  women,  like  the  men,  went  about  in 
almost  total  nudity,  and  seem.ed  to  know  no  shame.  So 
reckless  were  the  chiefs  of  human  life,  that  a  man  mio-ht 
be  put  to  death  for  a  single  distasteful  Avord  ;  yet  some- 
times there  were  exhibitions  of  very  tender  feeling.  The 
headman  of  a  village  once  showed  him,  with  much 
apparent  feeling,  the  burnt  house  of  a  child  of  his, 
adding, — "  She  perished  in  it,  and  we  have  all  removed 
from  our  o^vn  huts  and  built  here  round  her,  in  order  to 
weep  over  her  grave."  From  some  of  the  people  he  re- 
ceived great  kindness  ;  others  were  quite  different.  Their 
character,  in  short,  was  a  riddle,  and  would  need  to  be 
studied  more  But  the  prevalent  aspect  of  things  was 
both  distressing  and  depressing.  If  he  had  thought  of  it 
continually  he  would  have  become  the  victim  of  melan- 
choly. It  was  a  characteristic  of  his  large  and  buoyant 
nature,  that,  besides  having  the  resource  of  spiritual 
thouo'ht,  he  was  able  to  make  use  of  another  divine  cor- 
rective  to  such  a  tendency,  to  find  delightful  recreation 
in  science,  and  especially  in  natural  history,  and  by  this 
means  turn  the  mind  away  for  a  time  from  the  dark 
scenes  of  man's  depravity. 


158  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  viii. 

The  people  all  seemed  to  recognise  a  Supreme  Being ; 
but  it  was  only  occasionallj,  in  times  of  distress,  that  they 
paid  Him  homage.  They  had  no  love  for  Him  like  that 
of  Christians  for  Jesus — only  terror.  Some  of  them,  who 
,  were  true  negroes,  had  images,  simple  but  grotesque. 
7  Their  strongest  belief  was  in  the  power  of  medicines 
acting  as  charms.  They  fully  recognised  the  existence  of 
the  soul  after  death.  Some  of  them  believed  in  the  meta- 
morphosis of  certain  persons  into  alligators  or  hippopota- 
muses, or  into  lions.  This  belief  could  not  be  shaken  by 
any  arguments — at  least  on  the  part  of  man.  The 
negroes  proper  interested  him  greatly ;  they  were 
numerous,  prolific,  and  could  not  be  extirpated.  He 
almost  reofretted  that  Mr.  Moffat  had  translated  the 
Bible  into  Sichuana.  That  language  might  die  out;  but 
the  negro  might  sing,  "  Men  may  come  and  men  may  go, 
but  I  go  on  for  ever." 

The  incessant  attacks  of  fever  from  which  Livingstone 
suffered  in  this  journey,  the  continual  rain  occurring  at 
that  season  of  the  year,  the  return  of  the  affection  of  the 
throat  for  which  he  had  got  his  u^o^ila  excised,  and  the 
difficulty  of  speaking  to  tribes  using  different  dialects, 
prevented  him  from  holding  his  Sunday  services  as 
regularly  as  before.  Such  entries  in  his  Journal  as  the 
following  are  but  too  frequent : — ■ 

"Sunday,  Idth. — Sick  all  Sunday  and  unable  to  move.  Several  of 
the  people  were  ill  too,  so  that  I  could  do  nothing  but  roll  from  side 
to  side  in  my  miserable  little  tent,  in  which,  with  all  the  shade  Ave 
could  give  it,  the  thermometer  stood  upwards  of  90°." 

But  though  little  able  to  preach,  Livingstone  made 
the  most  of  an  apparatus  which  in  some  degree  compen- 
sated his  lack  of  speech — a  magic-lantern  which  his  friend, 
a  former  fellow-traveller,  Mr.  Murray,  had  given  him. 
The  pictures  of  Abraham  offering  up  Isaac,  and  other 
Bible  scenes,  enabled  him  to  convey  important  truths  in  a 
.way  that  attracted  the  people.      It  was,  he  says,  the  only 


I853-54-]  FROM  LINYANTI  TO  LOAXDA.  159 

service  he  was  ever  asked  to  repeat.  The  only  uncom- 
fortable feeling  it  raised  was  on  the  part  of  those  who 
stood  on  the  side  where  the  slides  were  drawn  out.  They 
were  terrified  lest  the  figures,  as  they  passed  along, 
should  take  possession  of  them,  entering  like  spirits  into 
their  bodies  ! 

The  loneliness  of  feeling  engendered  by  the  absence 
of  all  human  sympathy  was  trying.  "  Amidst  all  the 
beauty  and  loveliness  with  which  I  am  surrounded,  there 
is  still  a  feeling  of  want  in  the  soul, — as  if  something 
more  were  needed  to  bathe  the  soul  in  bliss  than  the 
sight  of  the  perfection  in  working  and  goodness  in  plan- 
ning of  the  great  Father  of  our  spirits,  I  need  to  be 
purified — fitted  for  the  eternal,  to  which  my  soul  stretches 
away,  in  ever  returning  longings.  I  need  to  be  made 
more  like  my  blessed  Saviour,  to  serve  my  God  with  all 
my  powers.  Look  upon  me,  Spirit  of  the  living  God, 
and  supply  all  Thou  seest  lacking." 

It  was  Livingstone's  great  joy  to  begin  this  long 
journey  with  a  blessed  act  of  humanity,  boldly  summoning 
a  trader  to  release  a  body  of  captives,  so  that  no  fewer 
than  eighteen  souls  were  restored  to  freedom.  As  he 
proceeded  he  obtained  but  too  plain  evidence  of  the 
extent  to  which  the  slave  traffic  prevailed,  uniformly 
findinof  that  wherever  slavers  had  been,  the  natives 
were  more  difficult  to  deal  with  and  more  exorbitant 
in  their  demands.  Slaves  in  chains  were  sometimes  met 
with — a  sig-ht  which  some  of  his  men  had  never  beheld 
before. 

Livingstone's  successful  management  of  the  natives 
constituted  the  crowning  wonder  of  this  journey.  Usually 
the  hearts  of  the  chiefs  were  wonderfully  turned  to  him, 
so  that  they  not  only  allowed  him  to  pass  on,  but  supj)lied 
him  with  provisions.  But  there  were  some  memorable 
occasions  on  which  he  and  his  company  appeared  to  be 
doomed.     When  he  passed  through  the  Chiboque  country, 


i6o  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  viii. 

the  provisions  were  absolutely  spent;  there  was  no  re- 
source but  to  kill  a  riding-ox,  apart  of  which,  according  to 
custom,  was  sent  to  the  chief.  Next  day  was  Sunday. 
After  service  the  chief  sent  an  impudent  message  de- 
manding much  more  valuable  presents.  His  people 
collected  round  Livingstone,  brandishing  their  weapons, 
and  one  young  man  all  but  brought  down  his  sword  on 
his  head.  It  seemed  impossible  to  avoid  a  fight ;  yet 
Livingstone's  management  prevailed  —  the  threatened 
storm  passed  away. 

Some  days  after,  in  passing  through  a  forest  in  the 
dominions  of  another  chief,  he  and  his  people  were  in 
momentary  expectation  of  an  attack.  They  went  to  the 
chief's  village  and  spoke  to  the  man  himself;  and  here, 
on  a  Sunday,  while  ill  of  fever,  Livingstone  was  able  to 
effect  a  temporary  settlement.  The  chief  sent  them 
some  food ;  then  yams,  a  goat,  fowl,  and  meat.  Living- 
stone gave  him  a  shawl  and  two  bunches  of  beads,  and 
he  seemed  pleased.  During  these  exciting  scenes, 
he  felt  no  fever ;  but  when  they  were  over,  the  constant 
wettings  made  him  experience  a  sore  sense  of  sinking, 
and  this  Sunday  was  a  day  "of  perfect  uselessness." 
Monday  came,  and  while  Livingstone  was  as  low  as 
possible,  the  inexorable  chief  renewed  his  demands.  "  It 
was,"  he  says,  "  a  day  of  torture." 

"  After  talking  nearly  the  Avhole  day  we  gave  the  old  chief  an  ox, 
but  he  would  not  take  it  hut  another.  I  Avas  grieved  exceedingly  to 
find  that  our  people  had  become  quite  disheartened,  and  all  resolved 
to  return  home.  All  I  can  say  has  no  effect.  I  can  only  look  up  to 
God  to  influence  their  minds,  that  the  enterprise  fail  not,  now  that  we 
have  reached  the  very  threshold  of  the  Portuguese  settlements.  I  am 
greatly  distressed  at  this  change,  for  what  else  can  be  done  for  this 
miserable  land  I  do  not  see.  It  is  shut.  0  Almighty  God,  help,  help  ! 
and  leave  not  this  wretched  people  to  the  slave-dealer  and  Satan. 
The  people  have  done  well  hitherto,  I  see  God's  good  influence  in  it. 
Hope  He  has  left  only  for  a  little  season.  No  land  needs  the  gospel 
more  than  this  miserable  portion.  I  hope  I  am  not  to  be  left  to  fail 
in  introducing  it." 


1853-54]  FROM  LIMYANTI  TO  LOANDA.  161 

On  Wednesday  morning,  however,  final  arrangements 
were  made,  and  the  party  passed  on  in  peace.  Ten  days 
later,  again  on  a  Sunday,  they  were  once  more  pestered 
by  a  great  man  demanding  daes.  Livingstone  rephed 
by  simply  defying  him.  He  might  kill  him,  but  God 
would  judge.  And  on  the  Monday,  they  left  peaceably, 
thankful  for  their  deliverance,  some  of  the  men  remarking, 
in  view  of  it,  that  they  were  "  children  of  Jesus,"  and 
Livingstone  thanking  God  devoutly  for  His  great  mercy. 
Next  day  they  were  again  stopped  at  the  river  Quango. 
The  poor  Makololo  had  jDarted  in  vain  with  their  copper 
ornaments,  and  Livingstone  with  his  razors,  shirts,  etc. ; 
yet  he  had  made  up  his  mind  (as  he  wrote  to  the  Geogra- 
phical Society  afterwards)  to  part  with  his  blanket  and 
coat  to  get  a  passage,  when  a  young  Portuguese  sergeant, 
Cypriano  de  Abrao,  made  his  appearance,  and  the  party 
were  allowed  to  pass. 

There  were  many  proofs  that,  though  a  poor  \set  of 
fellows,  Livingstone's  own  followers  were  animated  with 
extraordinary  regard  for  him.  No  wonder  !  They  had 
seen  how  sincere  he  was  in  saying  that  he  would  die 
rather  than  give  any  of  them  up  to  captivity.  And  all 
his  intercourse  A\dt]i  them  had  been  marked  by  similar 
proofs  of  his  generosity  and  kindness.  When  the  ox 
flung  him  into  the  river,  about  twenty  of  them  made  a 
simultaneous  rush  for  his  rescue,  and  their  joy  at  his 
safety  was  very  great. 

Amid  all  that  was  discouraging  in  the  present  aspect 
of  things,  Livingstone  could  always  look  forward  and 
rejoice  in  the  good  time  coming  : — 

"  Sunday,  '22d. — This  age  presents  one  great  fact  in  the  Providence 

of  God:  missions  are  sent  forth  to  all  quarters  of  the  world, — missions 

not  of  one  section  of  the  Church,  but  of  all  sections,  and  from  nearly 

all  Christian  nations.     It  seems  very  unfair  to  judge  of  the  success  of 

these  by  the  number  of  conversions  which  ha^-e  followed.     These  are 

rather  proofs  of  the  missions  being  of  the  right  sort.     Tliey  show  the 

direction  of  the  stream  which  is  set  in.  motion  by  Him  who  rules  the 

/ 
L 


i62  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  viii. 

nations,  and  is  destined  to  overflow  the  -world.  The  fact  which  oiight 
to  stimulate  us  above  all  others  is,  not  that  we  have  contributed  to  the 
conversion  of  a  few  souls,  however  valuable  these  may  be,  but  that  we 
are  diffusing  a  knowledge  of  Christianity  throughout  the  Avorld.  The 
number  of  conversions  in  India  is  but  a  poor  criterion  of  the  success 
which  has  followed  the  missionaries  there.  The  general  knowledge  is 
the  criterion  ;  and  there,  as  Avell  as  in  other  lands  Avhere  missionaries 
in  the  midst  of  masses  of  heathenism  seem  like  voices  crying  in  the 
wilderness — Reformers  before  the  Reformation,  future  missionaries 
will  see  conversions  follow  every  sermon.  We  prepare  the  way  for  them. 
May  they  not  forget  the  pioneers  who  worked  in  the  thick  gloom  with 
few  rays  to  cheer,  except  such  as  flow  from  faith  in  God's  jjromises ! 
We  Avork  for  a  glorious  future  which  Ave  are  not  destined  to  see — the 
golden  age  Avhich  has  not  been,  but  Avill  yet  be.  We  are  only  morning- 
stars  shining  in  the  dark,  but  the  glorious  morn  Avill  break,  the  good 
time  coming  yet.  The  present  mission-stations  Avill  all  be  broken  up. 
No  matter  hoAv  great  the  outcry  against  the  instrumentality-Avhich  God 
employs  for  His  purposes,  Avhether  by  French  soldiery  as  in  Tahiti,  or 
as  taAvny  Boers  in  South  Africa,  our  duty  is  ouAvard,  ouAA'ard,  proclaim- 
ing God's  Word  Avhether  men  Avill  hear  or  Avhether  they  Avill  forbear. 
A  few  conversions  shoAV  AA'hother  God's  Spirit  is  in  a  mission  or  not. 
No  mission  Avhich  has  His  approbation  is  entirely  unsuccessful.  His 
purposes  haA^e  been  fulfilled,  if  Ave  have  been  faithful.  '  The  nation  or 
kingdom  that  Avill  not  serve  Thee  shall  utterly  be  destroyed ' — this 
has  often  been  preceded  by  free  offers  of  friendship  and  mercy,  and 
many  missions  Avhich  He  has  sent  in  the  olden  time  seemed  bad  failures. 
Noah's  preaching  Avas  a  failure,  Isaiah  thought  his  so  too.  Poor 
Jeremiah  is  sitting  Aveeping  tears  over  his  people,  everybody  cursing 
the  honest  man,  and  he  ill-pleased  Avith  his  mother  for  having  borne 
him  among  such  a  set.  And  Ezekiel's  stiff-necked,  rebellious  crew 
were  no  better.  Paul  said,  '  All  seek  their  OAvn,  not  the  things  of  Jesus 
Christ,'  and  he  kncAv  that  after  his  departure  grievous  Avolves  Avould 
enter  in,  not  sparing  the  flock.  Yet  the  cause  of  God  is  still  carried 
on  to  more  enlightened  developments  of  His  Avill  and  character,  and 
the  dominion  is  being  given  by  the  power  of  commerce  and  population 
unto  the  people  of  the  saints  of  the  Most  High.  And  this  is  an  ever- 
lasting kingdom,  a  little  stone  cut  out  of  a  mountain  Avithout  hands 
Avhich  shall  cover  the  Avhole  earth.  For  this  time  Ave  Avork ;  may  God 
accept  our  imperfect  service  !' 

At  length  Livingstone  began  to  get  near  the  coast, 
reaching  the  outlying  Portuguese  stations.  He  was 
received  by  the  Portuguese  gentlemen  with  great  kmd- 
ness,  and  his  wants  were  generously  provided  for.  One 
of  them  gave  him  the  first  glass  of  wine  he  had  taken  in 


1853-54-]  FROM  LINYANTI  TO  LOANDA.  163 

Africa.  Another  provided  him  with  a  suit  of  clothing. 
Livino'stone  invoked  the  blessino-  of  Him  who  said,  "I 
was  naked  and  ye  clothed  me."  His  Journal  is  profuse 
in  its  admiration  of  some  of  the  Portuguese  traders,  who 
did  not  like  the  slave-trade — not  they,  but  had  most 
enlightened  views  for  the  welfare  of  Africa.  But 
opposite  some  of  these  eulogistical  passages  of  fhe 
Journal  there  were  afterwards  added  an  expressive  series 
of  marks  of  interrogation. 

At  a  later  date  he  saw  reason,  to  doubt  the  sincerity 
of  some  of  the  professions  of  these  gentlemen.  In- 
genuous and  trustful,  he  could  at  first  think  nothing  but 
good,  of  those  who  had  shown  him  such  marked  attention. 
Afterwards,  the  inexorable  logic  of  facts  proved  too 
strong,  -even  for  his  unsuspecting  soul.  But  the  kindness 
of  the  Portuguese  was  most  ^«nuine,  and  Livingstone 
never  ceased  to  be  grateful  for  a  single  kind  act.  It  is 
important  to  note  that  vwh^jii^er  he  came  to  think  of 
their  policy  afterwards,  he  was  always  ready  to  make  this 
ackno\^'ledofment. 

Arrived  at  Loanda,  31st  May  1854,  with  his  twenty- 
seven  followers,  he  was  most  kindly  received  by  Mr. 
Edmund  Gabriel,  the  British  Commissioner  for  the 
suppression  of  the  slave-trade  there,  and  everything 
was  done  by  him  for  his  comfort.  The  sensation  of 
lying  on  an  English  bed,  after  six  months  lying  on  the 
ground,  was  mdescribably  delightful.  Mr.  Gabriel  was 
equally  attentive  to  him  during  a  long  and  distressing 
attack  of  fever  and  dysentery  that  prostrated  him  soon 
after  his  arrival  at  Loanda.  In  his  Journal  the  warmest 
benedictions  are  poured  on  ]Mi\  Gabriel,  and  blessings 
everlasting  besought  for  his  soul.  One  great  disa2)i3oint- 
ment  he  suffered  at  Loanda — not  a  sino-le  letter  was 
awaiting  him.  His  friends  must  have  thought  he  could 
never  reach  it.  This  want  of  letters  was  a  very  fre- 
quent trial,  especially  to  one  who  wrote  so  many,  and 


1 64  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  viii. 

of  such  length.  The  cordial  friendship  of  Mr.  Gabriel, 
however,  was  a  great  solace.  He  gave  him  much 
information,  not  only  on  all  that  concerned  the  slave- 
trade — now  more  than  ever  attracting  his  attention — 
but  also  on  the  natural  history  of  the  district,  and  he 
entered,  con  amove,  into  the  highest  objects  of  his  mission. 
Afterwards,  in  acknowledging  to  the  Directors  of  tlie 
London  Missionary  Society  receipt  of  a  letter  for  Dr. 
Livingstone,  intrusted  to  his  care,  Mr.  Gabriel  wrote  as 
follows  (20th  March  1856)  :— 

"Dr.  Livingstone,  after  the  noble  objects  he  has  achieved,  most 
assuredlj^  wants  no  testimony  from  me.  I  consult,  therefore,  the  impulse 
of  my  own  mind  alone,  when  I  declare  that  in  no  respect  was  my  inter- 
course more  gratifying  to  me  than  in  the  opportunities  afforded  to  me  of 
observing  his  earnest,  active,  and  unwearied  solicitude  for  the  advancement  of 
Christianity.  Few,  perhaps,  have  had  better  opportunities  than  myself 
of  estimating //le  lenefit  the  Christian  cause  in  this  country  has  derived  frora 
Dr.  Livingstones  exertions.  It  is  indeed  fortunate  for  that  sacred  cause, 
and  highly  honourable  to  the  London  Missionary  Society  ivhen  qualities 
and  dispositions  like  his  are  emploijed  in  projxigating  its  blessings  among  men. 
Irrespective,  moreover,  of  his  laudable  and  single-minded  conduct  as  a 
minister  of  the  Gospel,  and  his  attainments  in  making  observations  which 
have  determined  the  true  geography  of  the  interior,  the  Directors,  I  am 
sure,  will  not  have  failed  to  perceive  how  interesting  and  valuable  are 
all  the  communications  they  receive  from  him — as  sketches  of  the  social 
condition  of  the  people,  and  the  material,  fabrics,  and  produce  of  these 
lands.  I  most  fervently  pray  that  the  kind  Providence,  which  has 
hitherto  carried  him  through  so  many  perils  and  hardships,  may  guide 
him  safely  to  his  present  journey's  end." 

The  friendship  of  Mr.  Gabriel  was  honourable  both 
to  himself  and  to  Dr.  Livingstone.  At  a  very  early 
period  he  learned  to  appreciate  Livingstone  thoroughly  ; 
he  saw  how  great  as  well  as  how  good  a  man  he  was,  and 
felt  that  to  be  the  friend  of  such  a  man  was  one  of  the 
hio-hest  distinctions  he  could  have.  After  Livino-stone 
left  Loanda,  and  while  he  was  detained  within  reach  of 
letters,  a  brisk  corresjjondence  passed  between  them  ;'  Mr. 
Gabriel  tells  him  about  birds,  helps  him  in  his  schemes 
for  promoting  lawful  commerce,  goes  into  ecstasies  over 
a  watch-chain  which  he  had  got  from  him,  tells  him  the 


1853-5 4.]  FROM  LINYANTI  TO  LOANDA.  165 

news  of  the  battle  of  the  Ahiia  in  the  Crimea,  in  which  his 
friend,  Colonel  Steele,  had  distinguished  himself,  and  of 
the  success  of  the  E,ae  Expedition  in  findmg  the  remains 
of  the  party  under  Sir  John  Franklin.  In  an  official 
communication  to  Lord  Clarendon,  after  Livmgstone  had 
left,  Mr.  Gabriel,  says,  5th  August  1855  :  "I  am  grieved 
to  say  that  this  excellent  man  s  health  has  suffered  a  good 
deal  [on  the  return  journey].  He  nevertheless  wrote  in 
cheerful  spirits,  sanguine  of  success  in  doing  his  duty 
under  the  guidance  and  protection  of  that  kind  Providence 
who  had  always  carried  him  through  so  many  perils  and 
hardships.  He  assures  me  that  since  he  knew  the  value 
of  Christianity,  he  has  ever  wished  to  spend  his  life  in  . 
propagating  its  blessings  among  men,  and  adds  that  the  y 
same  desire  remains  still  as  strong  as  ever." 

While  Livingstone  was  at  Loanda,  he  made  several 
acquaintances  among  the  officers  of  Her  Majesty's  navy, 
engaged  in  the  suppression  of  the  slave-trade.  For  many 
of  these  gentlemen  he  was  led  to  entertain  a  high  regard. 
Their  humanity  charmed  him,  and  so  did  their  attention 
to  their  duties.  In  his  early  days,  sharing  the  feeling 
then  so  prevalent  in  his  class,  he  had  been  used  to  think 
of  epauletted  gentlemen  as  idlers,  or  worse — "fruges 
consumere  nati"  Personal  acquaintance,  as  in  so  many 
other  cases,  rubbed  off  the  prejudice.  In  many  ways 
Livingstone's  mind  was  broadening.  His  mtensely 
sympathetic  nature  drew  powerfully  to  all  who  were 
interested  in  wdiat  was  rapidly  becoming  his  own  master-  / 
idea — the  suppression  of  the  slave-trade.  We  shall  see 
proofs  not  a  few,  how  this  sympathetic  affection  modified 
some  of  his  early  opinions,  and  greatly  widened  the  sphere 
of  his  charity. 

After  all  the  illness  and  danofers  he  had  encountered, 
Livingstone  might  quite  honourably  have  accepted  a 
berth  in  one  of  Her  Majesty's  cruisers,  and  returned  to 
Encfland,      But  the  men  who  had  come  with  him  from 


1 66  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  viii. 

the  Barotse  country  to  Loanda  had  to  return,  and  Living- 
stone knew  that  they  were  quite  unable  to  perform  the 
journey  without  him.  That  consideration  determined 
his  course.  All  the  risks  and  dangers  of  that  terrible 
road — the  attacks  of  fever  and  dysentery,  the  protracted 
absence  of  those  for  whom  he  pined,  were  not  to  be  thought 
of  when  he  had  a  duty  to  these  poor  men.  Besides,  he 
had  not  yet  accomplished  his  object.  He  had,  indeed, 
discovered  a  way  by  which  his  friend  Sekeletu  might  sell 
his  tusks  to  far  greater  advantage,  and  which  would  thus 
help  to  introduce  a  legit unate  traffic  among  the  Makololo, 
and  exj3el  the  slave-trade ;  but  he  had  discovered  no 
healthy  locality  for  a  mission,  nor  any  unexceptional 
highway  to  the  sea  for  the  purpose  of  general  traffic. 
The  east  coast  seemed  to  promise  better  than  the  west. 
That  great  river,  the  Zambesi,  might  be  found  to  be  a 
navigable  highway  to  the  sea.  He  would  return  to 
Liny  ant  i,  and  set  out  from  it  to  find  a  way  to  the  eastern 
shore.  Loaded  with  kindness  from  many  quarters,  and 
furnished  with  presents  for  Sekeletu,  and  for  the  chiefs 
along  the  way,  Livingstone  bade  farewell  to  Loanda  on 
20th  September  1854. 

The  following  letter  to  Mrs.  Livingstone,  written  a 
month  afterwards,  gives  his  impressions  of  Loanda  and 
the  neighbourhood : — 

'' Gohingo  Alto,  ^oth  October  1854. — It  occurs  to  me,  my  dearest 
IVIary,  that  if  I  send  you  a  note  from  different  parts  on  the  way  tlirough 
til  is  colony,  some  of  them  Avill  surely  reach  you  ;  and  if  they  carry  any 
of  the  affection  I  bear  to  you  in  their  composition,  they  Avill  not  fail 
to  comfort  you.  I  got  6ver};thing  in  Loanda  I  could  desire  ;  and 
were  there  only  a  wagon-path  for  us,  this  would  be  as  good  an 
opening  into  the  interior  as  we  could  wish.  I  remained  rather  a 
long  time  in  the  city  in  consequence  of  a  very  severe  attack  of  fever 
and  dysentery  whicli  reduced  me  very  much ;  and  I  remained  a  short 
time  longer  than  that  actually  required  to  set  me  on  my  legs,  in 
longing  expectation  of  a  letter  from  you.  None  came,  but  should  any 
come  up  to  the  beginning  of  November,  it  will  come  after  me  by  post 
to  Cassane^. 


i8S3-540  FROM  LINYANTI  TO  LOANDA.  167 

"  The  [Roman  Catholic]  Bishop,  who  was  then  acting-governor,  gave 
a  horse,  saddle  and  bridle,  a  colonel's  suit  of  clothes,  etc.,  for  Sekeletu, 
and  a  dress  of  blue  and  red  cloth,  with  a  white  cotton  blanket  and 
cap  to  each  of  my  companions,  who  are  the  best  set  of  men  I  ever 
travelled  with  except  Malatzi  and  IMebahve.  The  merchants  of 
Loauda  gave  Sekeletu  a  large  present  of  cloth,  beads,  etc.,  and  one  of 
them,  a  Dutchman,  gave  me  an  order  for  ten  oxen  as  provisions  on  the 
way  home  to  the  Zambesi,  This  is  all  to  encourage  the  natives  to 
trade  freely  with  the  coast,  and  will  have  a  good  effect  in  increasing 
our  influence  for  that  which  excels  everything  earthly.  Everything 
has,  by  God's  gracious  blessing,  proved  more  auspicious  than  I  antici- 
pated. We  have  a  most  warm-hearted  friend  in  Mr.  Gabriel.  He 
acted  a  brother's  part,  and  now  writes  me  in  the  most  affectionate 
manner.  I  thank  God  for  His  goodness  in  influencing  the  hearts  of 
so  many  to  show  kindness,  to  whom  I  was  a  total  stranger.  The 
Portuguese  have  all  been  extremely  kind.  In  coming  through  the 
coffee  plantations  I  Avas  offered  more  coffee  than  I  could  take  or 
needed,  and  the  best  in  the  world.  One  spoonful  makes  it  stronger 
than  three  did  of  that  we  used.     It  is  found  wild  on  the  mountains, 

"Mr.  Gabriel  came  about  30  miles  with  me,  and  ever  since, 
though  I  spoke  freely  about  the  slave-trade,  the  very  gentlemen  who 
have  been  engaged  in  it,  and  have  been  prevented  by  our  ships  from 
following  it,  and  often  lost  much,  treated  me  most  kindly  in  their 
houses,  and  often  accompanied  me  to  the  next  place  beyond  them, 
bringing  food  for  all  in  the  way.  The  common  people  are  extremely 
civil,  and  a  very  large  proportion  of  the  inhabitants  in  one  district 
called  Ambaca  can  read  and  write  well.  They  were  first  taught  by 
the  Roman  Catholic  missionaries,  and  now  teach  each  other  so  well,  it 
is  considered  a  shame  in  an  Ambacista  not  to  be  able  to  Avrite  his  own 
name  at  least.  But  they  have  no  Bibles.  They  are  building  a  church 
at  Ambaca,  and  another  is  in  course  of  erection  here,  though  they 
cannot  get  any  priests.  May  God  grant  that  we  may  be  useful  in 
some  degree  in  this  field  also.  .  .  .  Give  my  love  to  all  the  children, 
they  will  reap  the  advantage  of  your  remaining  longer  at  home  than 
we  anticipated.  I  hope  Robert,  Agnes  and  Tom  are  each  learning  as 
fast  as  they  can.  When  will  they  be  able  to  write  a  letter  to  me  ] 
How  happy  I  shall  be  to  meet  them  and  you  again !  I  hope  a  letter 
from  you  may  be  Avaiting  for  me  at  Zambesi.  Love  to  all  the  children. 
How  tall  is  Zouga  %     Accept  the  assurance  of  unabated  love, 

"  David  Livingston." 


It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  all  tlils  time  Dr.  Living- 
stone was  making  very  careful  astronomical  observations, 
in  order  to  determine  his  exact  positions,  and  transmit- 
ting elaborate  letters  to  the  Geographical  Society,     His 


1 68  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  viii. 

astronomical  observations  were  regularly  forwarded  to 
his  friend  the  Astronomer-Royal  at  the  Caj^e,  ]\Ii'.  Mac- 
lear,  for  verification  and  correction. 

Writing  to  Livingstone  on  27th  March  1854,  with 
reference  to  some  of  his  earlier  observations,  after  noticing 
a  few  trifling  mistakes,  Mr.  Maclear  says: — "It  is  both 
interesting  and  amusing  to  trace  your  improvement  as  an 
observer.  Some  of  your  early  observations,  as  you 
remark,  are  rough,  and  the  angles  ascribed  to  objects 
misplaced  in  transcribing.  But  upon  the  whole  I  do  not 
hesitate  to  assert  that  no  explorer  on  record  has  deter- 
/  mined  his  path  with  the  precision  you  have  accomplished." 
A  year  afterwards,  11th  August  1855,  but  with  reference 
to  papers  received  from  Sekeletu's  place,  Mr.  Maclear 
details  what  he  had  done  in  reducing  his  observations, 
preparing  abstracts  of  them,  sending  them  to  the  authori- 
ties, and  publishing  them  in  the  Cape  papers.  He 
informs  him  that  Sir  John  Ilerschel  placed  them  before 
the  Geographical  Society,  and  that  a  warm  eulogium  on 
his  labours  and  discoveries,  and  particularly  on  the 
excellent  series  of  observations  which  fixed  his  track  so 
exactly,  appeared  in  the  President's  Address. 

Then,  referring  to  his  wonderful  journey  to  Loanda, 
and  remarkable  escapes,  he  says  : — "  Nor  is  your  escape 
with  life  from  so  many  attacks  of  fever  other  than  miracu- 
lous. Perhaps  there  is  nothing  on  record  of  the  kind, 
and  it  can  only  be  explained  by  Divine  interference  for  a 
good  purpose.  O  may  life  be  continued  to  you,  my  dear 
friend  !  You  have  accomplished  more  for  the  happiness 
of  mankind  than  has  been  done  by  all  the  African 
travellers  hitherto  put  together." 

Mr.  Maclear's  reference  to  Livingstone's  work,  m 
writing  to  Sir  John  Herschel,  was  in  these  terms: — "  Such 
a  man  deserves  every  encouragement  in  the  power  of  his 
country  to  give.  He  has  done  that  which  few  other  travel- 
lers in  Africa  can  boast  of — he  has  fixed  his  geograpliical 


IS53-54-]  FROM  LINYANTI  TO  LOAhDA.  169 

points  with  very  great  accuracy,   and  yet  he  is  only  a 
poor  missionary." 

Nor  did  Dr.  Livingstone  pass  unrewarded  in  other 
quarters.  In  the  Geographical  Society,  his  journey  to 
Loanda,  of  which  he  sent  them  an  account,  excited  the 
liveliest  interest.  In  May  1855,  on  the  motion  of  Sir 
Boderick  Murchison,  the  Society  testified  its  appreciation 
by  awarding  him  their  gold  medal — the  highest  honour 
they  had  to  bestow.  The  occasion  was  one  of  great 
interest.  From  the  chair.  Lord  EUesmere  spoke  of 
Livingstone's  work  in  science  as  but  subordinate  to  those 
higher  ends  which  he  had  ever  prosecuted  in  the  true 
spmt  of  a  missionary.  The  smiphcity  of  his  arrangements 
gave  additional  wonder  to  the  results.  There  had  just 
appeared  an  account  of  a  Portuguese  expedition  of  African 
exploration  from  the  east  coast : — 

"I  advert  to  it,"  said  his  Lordship,  "to  point  out  the  contrast 
between  the  two.  Colonel  Monteiro  was  the  leader  of  a  small  army — 
some  twenty  Portuguese  soldiers,  and  a  hundred  and  twenty  Caffres. 
The  contrast  is  as  great  between  such  military  array  and  the  solitary 
grandeur  of  the  missionary's  progress,  as  it  is  between  the  actual  achieve- 
ments of  the  two — between  the  rough  knowledge  obtained  by  the  Por- 
tuguese of  some  three  hundi'ed  leagues  of  new  country,  and  the  scientific 
precision  with  wliich  the  unarmed  and  unassisted  Englishman  has  left 
his  mark  on  so  many  important  stations  of  regions  hitherto  a  blank." 

About  the  time  when  these  words  were  spoken.  Dr. 
Livuigstone  was  at  Cabango  on  his  return  journey,  recover- 
ing from  a  very  severe  attack  of  rheumatic  fever  which 
had  left  him  nearly  deaf ;  besides,  he  was  almost  bhnd  in 
consequence  of  a  blow  received  on  the  eye  from  a  branch 
of  a  tree  in  riding  through  the  forest.  Notwithstanding, 
he  was  engaged  in  writing  a  despatch  to  the  Geographical 
Society,  through  Sir  Roderick  Murchison,  of  which  more 
anon,  reporting  progress,  and  explainmg  his  views  of  the 
structure  of  Africa.  But  we  must  retm-n  to  Loanda,  and 
set  out  mth  him  and  his  Makololo  in  proper  form,  on 
their  homeward  tour. 


^/^ 


I70  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  [chap.  ix. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

TROM  LOANDA  TO  QUILIMANE. 

A.D.  1854-1856. 

Livingstone  sets  out  from  Loanda — Journey  back — Effects  of  slavery — Letter  to 
his  wife — Severe  attack  of  fever — He  readies  the  Barotse  countrj^ — Day  of 
thanksgiving — His  efforts  for  the  good  of  his  men— Anxieties  of  the  Moffats 
— Mr.  Moffat's  journey  to  Mosilikatse — Box  at  Linyanti — Letter  from  Mrs. 
Moffat — Letters  to  Mrs.  Livingstone,  Mr.  Moff.it,  and  Mrs.  Moffat — Kind- 
ness of  Sekeletu — New  escort — He  sets  out  for  the  East  Coast — Discovers 
the  Victoria  Falls — The  healthy  longitudinal  ridges — Pedesti'ianism — Great 
dangers — Narrow  escapes — Triumph  of  the  spirit  of  trust  in  God — Favourite 
texts — Reference  to  Captain  Maclure's  experience — Chief  subjects  of  thought 
— Structure  of  the  continent — Sir  Roderick  Murchison  anticipates  his  dis- 
covery— Letters  to  Geographical  Society— First  letter  from  Sir  Roderick 
Murchison  —  Missionary  labour — Monasteries — Protestant  mission-stations 
wanting  in  self-support — Letter  to  Directors — Fever  not  so  serious  an  ob- 
struction as  it  seemed — His  own  hardshij^s — Theories  of  mission-woi'k — 
Expansion  v.  Concentration — Views  of  a  missionary  statesman—  He  reaches 
Tette — Letter  to  King  of  Portugal — To  Sir  Roderick  Murchison — Reaches 
Senna — Quilimane — Retrospect — Letter  from  Directors — Goes  to  Mauritius 
— Voyage  home — Narrow  escape  from  shipwreck  in  Bay  of  Tunis  —He  reaches 
England,  Dec.  185G — News  of  his  father's  death. 

Dr.  Livingstone  left  St.  Paul  de  Loanda  on  2-4th 
September  1854,  arrived  at  his  old  quarters  at  Linyanti 
on  11  til  September  1855,  set  out  eastwards  on  3d 
November  1855,  and  reached  Quilimane  on  the  eastern 
coast  on  20th  May  1856.  The  journey  thus  occupied  a 
year  and  eight  months,  and  the  whole  time  from  his 
leaving  the  Cape  on  8th  June  1852  was  within  a  few  days 
of  four  years.  The  return  journey  from  Loanda  to 
Linyanti  took  longer  than  the  journey  outwards.  This 
arose  from  detention  of  various  kinds  : '  the  sicknesses  of 

^  Dr.  Livingstone  observed  that  traders  generally  travelled  ten  days  in  the 
month,  and  rested  twenty,  making  seven  geographical  miles  a  day,  or  seventy  per 
month.     In  his  case  in  this  journey  the  proportion  was  generally  reversed — twenty 


1854-56.]  FROM  LOANDA   TO  QUILIMANE.  171 

Livingstone  and  his  men,  the  heavy  rains,  and  in  one  case, 
at  Pungo  Andongo,  the  necessity  of  reproducing  a  large 
packet  of  letters,  journals,  maps  and  despatches,  which 
he  had  sent  off  from  Loanda.  These  were  despatched  by 
the  mail-packet  "  Forerunner,"  which  unhappily  went 
down  off  Madeira,  all  the  passengers  but  one  being  lost. 
But  for  his  promise  to  the  Makololo  to  return  wdth  them 
to  their  country.  Dr.  Livingstone  would  have  been  him- 
self a  passenger  in  the  ship.  Hearing  of  the  disaster 
while  paying  a  visit  to  a  very  kmd  and  hospitable  Portu- 
guese gentleman  at  Pungo  Andongo,  on  his  way  back, 
Livingstone  remained  there  some  time  to  reproduce  his 
lost  papers.  The  labour  thus  entailed  must  have  been 
very  great,  for  his  ordinary  letters  covered  sheets  almost 
as  large  as  a  newspaper,  and  his  maps  and  despatches 
were  produced  with  extraordinary  care. 

He  found  renewed  occasion  to  acknowledge  in  the 
warmest  terms  the  kindness  he  received  from  the  Portu- 
guese ;  and  his  prayers  that  God  would  reward  and  bless 
them  were  not  the  less  sincere  that  m  many  important 
matters  he  could  not  approve  of  their  ways. 

In  traversing  the  road  backw^ards  along  which  he  had 
already  come,  not  many  things  happened  that  demand 
special  notice  in  this  brief  sketch.  We  find  him  both  in 
his  published  book  and  still  more  in  his  private  Journal 
repeating  his  admiration  of  the  country,  and  its  glorious 
scenery.  This  revelation  of  the  marvellous  beauty  of  a 
country  hitherto  deemed  a  sandy  desert  was  one  of  the 
most  astoundino'  effects  of  Livinsfstone's  travels  on  the 
public  mind.  But  the  more  he  sees  of  the  people  the 
more  profound  does  their  degradation  appear,  although 
the  many  instances  of  remarkable  kmdness  to  himself,  and 
occasional  cases  of  genume  feeling  one  towards  another 

days  of  travelling  and  ten  of  rest,  and  his  rate  per  day  was  about  ten  geographical 
miles  or  two  hundred  per  month.  As  he  often  zigzagged,  the  geographical  mile 
represented  considerably  more.  See  letter  to  Pvoyal  Geographical  Society,  October 
16,  1855. 


172  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  ix. 

convinced  liim  that  there  was  a  somethmg  in  them  not 
quite  barbarised.  On  one  point  he  was  very  clear — the 
Portuguese  settlements  among  them  had  not  improved 
them.  Not  that  he  undervalued  the  influences  which 
the  Portuguese  had  brought  to  bear  on  them  ;  he  had 
a  much  more  favourable  opinion  of  the  Jesuit  missions 
than  Protestants  have  usually  allowed  themselves  to 
entertain,  and  felt  both  kindly  and  respectfully  towards 
the  padres,  who  in  the  earlier  days  of  these  settlements 
had  done,  he  believed,  a  useful  work.  But  the  great 
bane  of  the  Portuguese  settlements  was  slavery.  Slavery 
prevented  a  good  example,  it  hindered  justice,  it  kept  down 
improvement.  If  a  settler  took  a  fancy  to  a  good-looking 
girl,  he  had  only  to  buy  her,  and  make  her  his  concubine. 
Instead  of  correcting  the  polygamous  habits  of  the  chiefs 
and  others,  the  Portuguese  adopted  like  habits  themselves. 
In  one  thing  indeed  they  were  far  superior  to  the  Boers — 
in  their  treatment  of  the  children  born  to  them  by  native 
mothers.  But  the  whole  system  of  slavery  gendered  a 
bliofht  which  nothing'  could  counteract :  to  make  Africa  a 
prosperous  land,  liberty  must  be  proclaimed  to  the  captive, 
and  the  slave  system,  with  all  its  accursed  surround- 
ings, brought  conclusively  to  an  end.  Writing  to  Mrs. 
Livingstone  from  Bashinge,  20th  March  1855,  he  gives 
some  painful  particulars  of  the  slave-trade.  Beferring  to 
a  slave-agent  with  whom  he  had  been,  he  says  : — 

"This  agent  is  about  the  same  in  appearance  as  Mebahve,  and 
speaks  Portuguese  as  the  Griquas  do  Dutch.  He  has  two  chainsful  of 
women  going  to  be  sold  for  the  ivory.  Formerly  the  trade  went  from 
the  interior  into  the  Portuguese  territory ;  now  it  goes  the  opposite 
way.  This  is  the  effect  of  the  Portuguese  love  of  the  trade  :  they  can- 
not send  them  abroad  on  account  of  our  ships  of  Avar  on  the  coast,  yet 
will  sell  them  to  the  best  advantage.  These  women  are  decent-looking, 
as  much  so  as  the  general  run  of  Kuruman  ladies,  and  were  caught 
lately  in  a  skirmish  the  Portuguese  had  Avitli  their  tribe;  and  they 
Avill  be  sold  for  about  three  tusks  each.  Each  has  an  iron  ring  round 
the  wrist,  and  that  is  attached  to  the  chain,  which  she  carries  in  the 
liaiid  to  prevent  it  jerking  and  hurting  the  wrist.     How  would  Nannie 


1854-56.]  FROM  LO  AND  A    TO  QUILIMANE.  173 

like  to  be  thus  treated  ?  and  yet  it  is  only  by  the  goodness  of  God  in 
appointing  our  lot  in  different  circumstances  that  we  are  not  similarly 
degraded,  for  we  have  the  same  evil  nature,  which  is  so  degraded  in 
them  as  to  allow  of  men  treating  them  as  beasts. 

"  I  long  for  the  time  when  I  shall  see  you  again.  I  hope  in  God's 
mercy  for  that  pleasure.  How  are  my  dear  ones  ]  I  have  not  seen  any 
equal  to  them  since  I  put  them  on  board  ship.  My  brave  little  dears ! 
I  only  hope  God  will  show  us  mercy,  and  make  them  good  too.  .  .  . 

"  I  work  at  the  interior  languages  Avhen  I  have  a  little  time,  and 
also  at  Portuguese,  which  I  like  from  being  so  much  like  Latin.  Indeed, 
when  I  came  I  understood  much  that  was  said  from  its  similarity  to 
that  tongue,  and  when  I  interlarded  my  attempts  at  Portuguese  Avith 
Latin,  or  spoke  it  entirely,  they  understood  me  very  well.  The  Negro 
language  is  not  so  easy,  but  I  take  a  spell  at  it  every  day  T  can.  It 
is  of  the  same  family  of  languages  as  the  Sichuana.  .  .  . 

"  "We  have  passed  two  chiefs  who  plagued  us  much  when  going 
down,  but  now  were  quite  friendly.  At  that  time  one  of  them  ordered 
his  people  not  to  sell  us  anything,  and  we  had  at  last  to  force  our  Avay 
past  him.  Now  he  came  running  to  meet  us,  saluting  us,  etc.,  with 
great  urbanity.  He  informed  us  that  he  would  come  in  the  evening 
to  receive  a  present,  but  I  said  unless  he  l)rought  one  he  should  receive 
nothing.  He  came  in  the  usual  way.  The  Balonda  show  the  exalted 
position  they  occupy  among  men,  viz.,  riding  on  the  shoulders  of  a 
spokesman  in  the  way  little  boys  do  in  England.  The  chief  brought 
two  cocks  and  some  eggs.  I  then  gave  a  little  present  too.  The 
alteration  in  this  gentleman's  conduct — the  Peace  Society  would  not 
credit  it — is  attributable  solely  to  my  people  possessing  guns.  When 
we  passed  before,  we  Avere  defenceless.  May  every  needed  blessing  be 
granted  to  you  and  the  dear  children,  is  the  earnest  prayer  of  your 
ever  most  affectionate  D.  Livingston." 

It  was  soon  after  the  date  of  this  letter  that 
Lhdngstone  was  struck  down  by  that  severe  attack  of 
rheumatic  fever,  accompanied  by  great  loss  of  blood,  to 
which  reference  has  already  been  made.  "  I  got  it,"  he 
writes  to  Mr.  Maclear,  "by  sleeping  in  the  wet.  There 
was  no  help  for  it.  Every  part  of  a  plain  was  flooded 
ankle-deep.  We  got  soaked  by  going  on,  and  sodden 
if  we  stood  still."  In  his  former  journey  he  had  been 
very  desirous  to  visit  Matiamvo,  paramount  chief  of  the 
native  tribes  of  Londa,  whose  friendship  would  have 
helped  him  greatly  in  his  journey  ;  but  at  that  time  he 
found  Imnself  too  poor  to  attempt  the  enterprise.     The 


174  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  ix. 

loss  of  time  and  consumption  of  goods  caused  by  his 
illness  on  the  way  back  prevented  him  from  accomplish- 
ing his  purpose  now. 

Not  only  was  the  party  now  better  armed  than  be- 
fore, but  the  good  name  of  Livingstone  had  also  become 
better  known  along  the  line,  and  during  his  return  jour- 
ney he  did  not  encounter  so  much  opposition.  We 
cannot  fail  to  be  struck  with  his  extraordinaiy  care  for 
his  men.  It  was  his  earnest  desire  to  bring  them  all 
back  to  their  homes,  and  in  point  of  fact  the  whole 
twenty-seven  returned  in  good  health.  How  carefully 
he  must  have  nursed  them  in  their  attacks  of  fever,  and 
kept  them  from  unnecessary  exposure,  it  is  hardly  pos- 
sible for  strangers  adequately  to  understand. 

On  reaching  the  country  of  the  Barotse,  the  home  of 
most  of  them,  a  day  of  thanksgiving  was  observed  (23d 
July  1855).  The  men  had  made  Httle  fortunes  in  Loanda, 
earning  sixpence  a  day  for  weeks  together  by  helping  to 
discharge  a  cargo  of  coals  or,  as  they  called  them,  "  stones 
that  burned."  But,  like  Livingstone,  they  had  to  part 
with  everything  on  the  way  home,  and  now  they  were  in 
rao-s ;  yet  they  were  quite  as  cheerful  and  as  fond  of 
their  leader  as  ever,  and  felt  that  they  had  not  travelled 
in  vain.  They  quite  understood  the  benefit  the  new 
route  would  bring  in  the  shape  of  higher  prices  for  tusks 
and  the  other  merchandise  of  home.  On  the  thanks- 
giving day — 

"  The  men  decked  themselves  out  in  their  best,  for  all  had  managed 
to  preserve  their  suits  of  European  clothing,  which,  with  their  white 
and  red  caps,  gave  them  a  rather  dashing  appearance.  They  tried  to 
walk  like  soldiers,  and  called  themselves  '  my  braves.'  Having  been 
again  saluted  with  salvos  from  the  women,  we  met  the  Avhole  popula- 
tion, and  having  given  an  address  on  divine  things,  I  told  them  we 
had  come  that  day  to  thank  God  before  them  all  for  His  mercy  in 
preserving  us  from  dangers,  from  strange  tribes  and  sicknesses.  AVe 
had  another  service  in  the  afternoon.  They  gave  us  two  fine  oxen  to 
slaughter,  and  the  women  have  supplied  us  abundantly  with  milk  and 
meal.     This  is  all  gratuitous,  and  I  feel  ashamed  that  I  can  make  no 


i8s4-56.]  FROM  LOANDA  TO  QUILIMANE.  175 

return.  My  men  explain  the  whole  expenditure  on  the  way  hither, 
and  they  remark  gratefully  :  '  It  does  not  matter,  you  have  opened  a 
path  for  us,  and  we  shall  have  sleep.'  Strangers  from  a  distance  come 
flocking  to  see  me,  and  seldom  come  empty-handed.  I  distribute  all 
presents  among  my  men." 

Several  of  the  poor  fellows  on  reaching  home  found 
domestic  trouble — a  wife  had  proved  inconstant  and 
married  another  man.  As  the  men  had  generally  more 
wives  than  one,  Livingstone  comforted  them  by  saying 
that  they  still  had  as  many  as  he. 

Amid  the  anxieties  and  sicknesses  of  the  journey,  and 
multiplied  subjects  of  thought  and  inquiry,  Livingstone 
was  as  earnest  as  ever  for  the  spiritual  benefit  of  the 
people.  Some  extracts  from  his  Journal  will  illustrate  his 
efforts  in  this  cause,  and  the  flickerings  of  hope  that 
would  spring  out  of  them,  dimmed,  however,  by  many 
fears  : — 

"  Angiist  5,  1855. — A  large  audience  listened  attentively  to  my 
address  this  morning,  but  it  is  impossible  to  indulge  any  hopes  of  such 
feeble  efforts.  God  is  merciful,  and  will  deal  with  them  in  justice  and 
kindness.  This  constitutes  a  ground  of  hope.  Poor  degraded  Africa ! 
A  permanent  station  among  them  might  effect  something  in  time,  but 
a  considerable  time  is  necessar3^  Surely  some  will  pray  to  their 
merciful  Father  in  their  extremity,  Avho  never  would  have  thought  of 
Him  but  for  our  visit." 

"August  12. — A  very  good  and  attentive  audience.  Surely  all 
will  not  be  forgotten.  How  small  their  opportunity  compared  to  ours 
who  have  been  carefully  instructed  in  the  knoAvledge  of  divine  truth 
from  our  earliest  infancy  !  The  Judge  is  just  and  merciful.  He  will 
deal  fairly  and  kindly  Avith  all." 

"  Odober  15. — We  had  a  good  and  very  attentive  audience  yestei'- 
day,  and  I  expatiated  with  great  freedom  on  the  love  of  Christ  in 
dying,  from  his  parting  address  in  John  xvi.  It  cannot  be  these 
precious  truths  will  fall  to  the  ground  ;  but  it  is  perplexing  to  observe 
no  effects.  They  assent  to  the  truth,  but  *  we  don't  know,'  or  'you 
speak  truly '  is  all  the  response.  In  reading  accounts  of  South  Sea 
missions  it  is  hard  to  believe  the  quickness  of  the  vegetation  of  the 
.  good  seed,  but  I  know  several  of  the  men  "  [the  South  Sea  missionaries} 
'■  and  am  sure  they  are  of  unimpeachable  veracity.  In  trying  to  convej; 
knowledge,  and  use  the  magic  lantern,  Avhich  is  everywhere  extremely 
popular,  though  they  listen  with  apparent  delight  to  what  is  said, 
questioning  them  on  the  following  night  reveals  almost  entire  ignor- 


176  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  ix. 

ance  of  the  previous  lesson.  0  tliat  the  Holy  Ghost  might  enlighten 
them  !  To  His  soul-renewing  influence  my  longing  soul  is  directed. 
It  is  His  word,  and  cannot  die." 

The  long  absence  of  Livingstone  and  the  want  of 
letters  had  caused  great  anxiety  to  his  friends.  The 
Moffat s  had  been  particularly  concerned  about  him,  and, 
in  1854,  partly  in  the  hope  of  hearing  of  him,  Mr.  Moffat 
undertook  a  visit  to  Mosilikatse,  while  a  box  of  goods 
and  comforts  was  sent  to  Lmyanti  to  await  his  return, 
should  that  ever  take  place.  A  letter  from  Mrs.  Moffat 
accompanied  the  box.  It  is  amusing  to  read  her  motherly 
explanations  about  the  white  shirts,  and  the  blue  waist- 
coat, the  woollen  socks,  lemon  juice,  quince  jam,  and  tea 
and  coffee,  some  of  which  had  come  all  the  way  from 
Hamilton ;  but  there  are  passages  in  that  little  note 
that  make  one's  heart  go  with  rapid  beat : — 

"j\Iy  dear  son  Livingston, — Your  present  position  is  almost 
too  much  for  my  weak  nerves  to  suffer  me  to  contemplate.  Hitherto 
I  have  kept  up  my  spirits,  and  been  enabled  to  believe  that  our  great 
Master  may  yet  bring  you  out  in  safety,  for  though  His  ways  are  often 
inscrutable,  I  should  have  clung  to  the  many  precious  promises  made 
in  His  word  as  to  temporal  preservation,  such  as  the  91st  and  121st 
Psalms — but  have  been  taught  that  we  may  not  presume  confidently 
to  expect  them  to  be  fulfilled,  and  that  every  petition,  however  fervent, 
must  be  w-ith  devout  submission  to  His  Avill.  My  poor  sister-in-law 
clung  tenaciously  to  the  91st  Psalm,  and  firmly  believed  that  her  dear 
husband  would  thus  be  preserved,  and  never  indulged  the  idea  that 
they  should  never  meet  on  earth.  But  I  apprehend  submission  was 
wanting.  '  If  it  be  Thy  will,'  I  fancy  she  could  not  say — and,  therefore, 
she  was  utterly  confounded  when  the  news  came.^  She  had  exercised 
strong  faith,  and  Avas  disappointed.  Dear  Livingstone,  I  have  always 
endeavoured  to  keep  this  in  mind  with  regard  to  you.  Since  George 
[Fleming]  came  out  it  seemed  almost  hope  against  hope.  Your  having 
got  so  thoroughly  feverised  chills  my  expectations ;  still  prayer,  un- 
ceasing prayer,  is  made  for  you.  When  I  think  of  you  my  heart  will 
go  upwards.  '  Keep  him  as  the  apple  of  Thine  eye,'  '  Hold  him  in  the 
hollow  of  Thy  hand,'  are  the  ejaculations  of  my  heart." 

^  Rev.  John  Smitli,  missionary  at  Mailras,  had  gone  to  Vizagapatam  to  the 
ordination  of  two  native  pastors,  and  when  returning  in  a  small  vessel,  a  storm 
arose,  when  he  and  all  on  board  perished. 


i854-s6.]  FROM  LOANDA  TO  QUILIMANE.  177 

In  writing  from  Linyanti  to  his  wife,  Livingstone 
makes  the  best  he  can  of  his  long  detention.  She  seems 
to  have  put  the  matter  playfully,  wondering  what  the 
"  source  of  attraction  "  had  been.      He  says  : — 

"  Don't  know  what  apology  to  make  you  for  a  delay  I  could  not 
shorten.  But  as  you  are  a  mercifully  kind-hearted  dame,  I  expect  you 
Avill  write  out  an  apology  in  proper  form,  and  I  shall  read  it  before 
you  with  as  long  a  face  as  I  can  exhibit.  Disease  was  the  chief 
obstacle.  The  repair  of  the  wagon  Avas  the  '  source  of  attraction '  in 
Cape  Town,  and  the  settlement  of  a  case  of  libel  another  '  source  of 
attraction.'  They  tried  to  engulf  me  in  a  laAV-suit  for  simply  asking 
the  postmaster  why  some  letters  were  charged  double.  They  were  so 
marked  in  my  account.  I  had  to  pay  £13  to  quash  it.  They  longed 
to  hook  me  in,  from  mere  hatred  to  London  missionaries.  I  did  not 
remain  an  hour  after  I  could  move.  But  I  do  not  wonder  at  your 
anxiety  for  my  speedy  return.  I  am  sorry  you  have  been  disappointed, 
but  you  know  no  mortal  can  control  disease.  The  Makololo  are 
Avonderfully  Avell  pleased  Avith  the  path  we  have  already  made,  and 
if  I  am  successful  in  going  down  to  Quilimane,  that  Avill  be  still  better. 
I  have  written  you  by  every  opportunity,  and  am  very  sorry  your 
letters  have  been  miscarried." 

To  his  father-in-law  he  expresses  his  warm  gratitude 
for  the  stores.  It  was  feared  by  the  natives  that  the 
goods  were  bewitched,  so  they  were  placed  on  an  island, 
a  hut  was  built  over  them,  and  there  Livingstone  found 
them  on  his  arrival,  a  year  after  I  A  letter  of  twelve 
quarto  pages  to  Mr.  Moffat  gives  his  impressions  of  his 
journey,  while  another  of  sixteen  pages  to  Mrs.  Moffat, 
explains  his  "  plans,"  about  which  she  had  asked  more 
full  information.  He  quiets  her  fears  by  his  flivourite 
texts  for  the  present — "  Commit  thy  way  to  the  Lord," 
and  "  Lo,  I  am.  with  you  alway ;  "  and  his  favourite  vision 
of  the  future— the  earth  full  of  the  knowledge  of  the 
Lord.  He  is  somewhat  cutting  at  the  expense  of  so- 
called  "missionaries  to  the  heathen,  wdio  never  march 
into  real  heathen  territory,  and  quiet  their  consciences 
by  opposing  their  do-nothingism  to  my  blundering  do- 
somethingism  !  "  He  is  indignant  at  the  charge  made  by 
some   of  his  enemies  that  no  good  was  done  among  the 

M 


178  DAVID  LIVJNGSTOXE.  [chap.  ix. 

Bakwains.  They  were,  in  many  respects,  a  different 
people  from  before.  Any  one  who  should  be  among  the 
Makololo  as  he  had  been,  would  be  thankful  for  the  state 
of  the  Bakwains.  The  seed  would  always  bear  fruit,  but 
the  husbandman  had  need  of  great  patience,  and  the  end 
v.'as  sure. 

Sekeletu  had  not  been  behaving  well  in  Livingstone's 
absence.  He  had  been  conducting  marauding  parties 
against  his  neighbours,  which  even  Livingstone's  men, 
when  they  heard  of  it,  pronounced  to  be  "bad,  bad." 
Livingstone  was  obliged  to  reprove  him.  A  new  uniform 
had  been  sent  to  the  chief  from  Loanda,  with  which  he 
appeared  at  church,  "  attracting  more  attention  than  the 
sermon. "  He  continued  however  to  show  the  same  friend- 
ship for  Livingstone,  and  did  all  he  could  for  him  when  he 
set  out  eastwards.  A  new  escort  of  men  was  provided, 
above  a  hundred  and  twenty  strong,  with  ten  slaughter 
cattle,  and  three  of  his  best  riding  oxen  ;  stores  of  food 
were  given,  and  a  right  to  levy  tribute  over  the  tribes 
that  were  subject  to  Sekeletu  as  he  passed  through  their 
borders.  If  Livingstone  had  performed  these  journeys 
with  some  long-pursed  society  or  individual  at  his  back, 
his  feat  even  then  would  have  been  wonderful ;  but  it  be- 
comes quite  amazing  when  we  think  that  he  went  without 
stores,  and  owed  everything  to  the  influence  he  acquired 
with  men  like  Sekeletu  and  the  natives  generally.  His 
heart  was  much  touched  on  one  occasion  by  the  disin- 
terested kindness  of  Sekeletu.  Having  lost  their  way  on  a 
dark  night  in  the  forest,  in  a  storm  of  rain  and  lightning, 
and  the  luggage  having  been  carried  on,  they  had  to  pass 
the  night  under  a  tree.  The  chief's  blanket  had  not  been 
carried  on,  and  Sekeletu  placed  Livingstone  under  it, 
and  lay  do^^^l  hmiself  on  the  wet  gromid.  "  If  such  men 
must  perish  before  the  white  by  an  immutable  law  of 
heaven,"  he  wrote  to  the  Geographical  Society  (25th 
January  185G),  "  we  must  seem  to  be  under  the  same  sort 


1854-56.]  FROM  LOANDA   TO  QUILIMANE.  179 

of  terrible  necessity  in  our  Caffre  wars  as  tlie  American 
Professor  of  Chemistry  said  he  was  under,  when  he 
dismembered  the  man  whom  he  had  murdered." 

Again  Livingstone  sets  out  on  his  weary  way,  un- 
trodden by  white  man's  foot,  to  pass  through  unknown 
tribes,  whose  savage  temper  might  give  him  his  quietus  at 
any  turn  of  the  road.  There  were  various  routes  to  the 
sea  open  to  him.  He  chose  the  route  along  the  Zambesi 
— though  the  most  difficult,  and  through  hostile  tribes — 
because  it  seemed  the  most  likely  to  answer  his  desire  to 
find  a  commercial  highway  to  the  coast.  Not  far  to  the  east 
of  Linyanti,  he  beheld  for  the  first  time  those  wonderful 
fiills  of  v/hich  he  had  only  heard  before,  giving  an  English 
name  to  them — the  first  he  had  ever  given  in  all  his 
African  journeys, — the  Victoria  Falls.  We  have  seen 
how  genuine  his  respect  was  for  his  Sovereign,  and  it  was 
doubtless  a  real  though  quiet  pleasure  to  connect  her 
name  with  the  grandest  natural  phenomenon  in  Africa. 
This  is  one  of  the  discoveries'^  that  have  taken  most  hold 
on  the  popular  imagination,  for  the  Victoria  Falls  are  like 
a  second  Niagara,  but  grander  and  more  astonishing ; 
but  except  as  illustrating  his  views  of  the  structure  of 
Africa,  and  the  distribution  of  its  Avaters,  it  had  not 
much  influence,  and  led  to  no  very  remarkable  results. 
Right  across  the  channel  of  the  river  was  a  deep  fissure 
only  eighty  feet  wide,  into  which  the  whole  volume  of 
the  river,  a  thousand  yards  broad,  tumbled  to  the  depth 
of  a  hundred  feet,^  the  fissure  being  continued  in  zigzag 
form  for  thirty  miles,  so  that  the  stream  had  to  change 
its  course  from  right  to  left  and  left  to  right,  and  went 
through  the  hills  boiling  and  roaring,  sending  up  columns 
of  steam,  formed  by  the  compression  of  the  water  falling 
into  its  narrow  wedge-shaped  receptacle. 

A  discovery  as  to  the  structure  of  the  country,  long 

1  Virtually  a  discovery,  though  marked  in  an  old  map. 

2  Afterwards  ascertained  by  him  to  be  1800  yards  and  320  feet  respectively. 


i8o  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  ix. 

believed  in  by  him,  but  now  fully  verified,  was  of  much 
more  practical  importance.  It  had  been  ascertained  by 
him  that  skirting  the  central  hollow  there  were  two 
longitudinal  ridges  extremely  favourable  for  settlements, 
both  for  missions  and  merchandise.  We  shall  hear  much 
of  this  soon. 

Slowly  but  steadily  the  eastward  tramp  is  continued, 
often  over  ground  which  was  far  from  favourable  for 
walkinof  exercise.  "  Pedestrianism,"  said  Livino-stone, 
"  may  be  all  very  well  for  those  whose  obesity  requires 
much  exercise ;  but  for  one  who  was  becoming  as  thin 
as  a  lath  through  the  constant  perspiration  caused  by 
marching  day  after  day  in  the  hot  sun,  the  only  good  I 
saw  in  it  was  that  it  gave  an  honest  sort  of  a  man  a 
vivid  idea  of  the  treadmill." 

When  Livino'stone  came  to  Enoland,  and  was  writino- 
books,  his  tendency  was  rather  to  get  stout  than  thin  ; 
and  the  disgust  with  which  he  spoke  then  of  the  "  beastly 
fat "  seemed  to  show  that  if  for  nothing  else  than  to  get 
rid  of  it  he  would  have  been  glad  to  be  on  the  tread-mill 
again.  In  one  of  his  letters  to  Mr.  Maclear  he  thus 
speaks  of  a  part  of  this  journey  : — "  It  was  not  likely  that 
I  shoidd  know  our  course  well,  for  the  country  there  is 
covered  with  shingle  and  gravel,  bushes,  trees,  and  grass, 
and  we  were  without  path.  Skulking  out  of  the  way  of 
villages  where  we  were  expected  to  pay  after  the  pm-se  was 
empty,  it  was  excessively  hot  and  steamy ;  the  eyes  had 
to  be  always  fixed  on  the  ground  to  avoid  being  tripped." 

In  the  course  of  this  journey  he  had  even  more 
exciting  escapades  among  hostile  tribes  than  those  which 
he  had  encountered  on  the  way  to  Loanda.  His  serious 
anxieties  began  when  he  passed  beyond  the  tribes  that 
owned  the  sovereignty  of  Sekeletu.  At  the  union  of  the 
rivers  Loang^^a  and  Zambesi,  the  suspicious  feeling  regard- 
ing him  reached  a  climax,  and  he  could  only  avoid  the 
threatened   doom  of  the   Bazimka  {i.e.    Bastard   Portu- 


1854-56.]  FROM  LOANDA  TO  QUILIMANE.  181 

guese)  who  had  formerly  incurred  the  wrath  of  the  chief, 
bj  showing  his  bosom,  arms,  and  hair,  and  asking  if  the 
Bazimka  were  Uke  that.  Livingstone  felt  that  there  was 
danger  in  the  au\  In  fact  he  never  seemed  in  more 
imminent  peril : — 

"14//i  January  1856. — At  the  confluence  of  the  Loangwa  and 
Zambesi.  Thank  God  for  His  great  mercies  thus  far.  How  soon  I 
may  be  called  to  stand  before  Him,  my  righteous  judge,  I  know  not. 
All  hearts  are  in  His  hands,  and  merciful  and  gracious  is  the  Lord 
our  God.  0  Jesus,  grant  me  resignation  to  Thy  Avill,  and  entire 
reliance  on  Thy  powerful  hand.  On  Thy  Word  alone  I  lean.  But 
wilt  Thou  permit  me  to  plead  for  Africa  1  The  cause  is  Thine. 
What  an  impulse  will  be  given  to  the  idea  that  Africa  is  not  open  if  1 
perish  now  !  See,  0  Lord,  hoAV  the  heathen  rise  up  against  me,  as 
they  did  to  Thy  Son.  I  commit  my  way  unto  Thee.  I  trust  also  in 
Thee  that  Thou  wilt  direct  my  steps.  Thou  givest  wisdom  liberally 
to  all  who  ask  Thee — give  it  to  me,  my  Father.  JNIy  family  is  Thine. 
They  are  in  the  best  hands.  Oh  !  be  gracious,  and  all  our  sins  do 
Thou  blot  out. 

'A  guilty,  weak,  and  helpless  worm, 
On  Thy  kind  arms  I  fall.' 

Leave  me  not,  forsake  me  not.  I  cast  myself  and  all  my  cares  down 
at  Thy  feet.     Thou  knowest  all  I  need,  for  time  and  for  eternity. 

"  It  seems  a  pity  that  the  important  facts  about  the  two  healthy 
longitudinal  ridges  should  not  become  know^n  in  Christendom.  Thy 
will  be  done  !  .  .  .  They  Avill  not  furnish  us  with  more  canoes  than 
two.  I  leave  my  cause  and  all  my  concerns  in  the  hands  of  God, 
my  gracious  Saviour,  the  Friend  of  sinners. 

"  Evening. — Felt  much  turmoil  of  spirit  in  view  of  having  all  my 
plans  for  the  welfare  of  this  great  region  and  teeming  population 
knocked  on  the  head  by  savages  to-morrow.  But  I  read  that  Jesus 
came  and  said,  '  All  power  is  given  unto  me  in  heaven  and  in  earth. 
Go  ye  therefore,  and  teach  all  nations — and  lo,  /  am  iviih  you  ahcay, 
even  unto  the  end  of  the  icorld.'  It  is  the  word  of  a  gentleman  of  the 
most  sacred  and  strictest  honour,  and  there  is  an  end  on't.  I  will  not 
cross  furtively  by  night  as  I  intended.  It  would  appear  as  flight,  and 
should  such  a  man  as  I  flee  1  Nay,  verily,  I  shall  take  observations  for 
latitude  and  longitude  to-night,  though  they  may  be  the  last.  I  feel 
c[uite  calm  noAv,  thank  God. 

"  \bth  January  1856. — Left  bank  of  Loangwa.  The  natives  of  the 
surrounding  country  collected  round  us  this  morning  all  armed. 
Children  and  women  were  sent  away,  and  Mburuma's  wife  who  lives 
here  was  not  allowed  to  approach,  though  she  came  some  way  from 
her  village  in  order  to  pay  me  a  visit.     Only  one  canoe  was  lent, 


1 82  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  ix. 

though  we  saw  two  tied  to  the  bank.  And  the  part  of  the  river  Ave 
crossed  at,  about  a  mile  from  the  confluence,  is  a  good  mile  broad. 
We  passed  all  our  goods  first,  to  an  island  in  the  middle,  then  the 
cattle  and  men,  I  occupying  the  post  of  honour,  being  the  last  to  enter 
the  canoe.  We  had,  by  this  means,  an  opportunity  of  helping  each 
other  in  case  of  attack.  They  stood  armed  at  my  back  for  some  time. 
I  then  showed  them  my  watch,  burning-glass,  etc.  etc.,  and  kept  them 
amused  till  all  were  over,  except  those  who  could  go  into  the  canoe 
with  me.  I  thanked  them  all  for  their  kindness  and  wished  them 
peace." 

Nine  days  later,  they  were  again  tLreatened  by 
Mpende  : — 

"  23f?  January  1856. — At  Mpende's  this  morning  at  sunrise,  a 
party  of  his  people  came  close  to  our  encampment,  using  strange  cries, 
and  Avaving  some  red  substance  towards  us.  They  then  lighted  a  fire 
w^ith  charms  in  it,  and  departed  uttering  the  same  hideous  screams  as 
before.  This  is  intended  to  render  us  powerless,  and  probably  also  to 
frighten  us.  No  message  has  yet  come  from  him,  though  several 
parties  have  arrived,  and  profess  to  have  come  simply  to  see  the  Avhite 
man.  Parties  of  his  people  haA^e  been  collecting  from  all  quarters  long 
before  daybreak.  It  Avould  be  considered  a  challenge — for  us  to  move 
doAvn  the  river,  and  an  indication  of  fear  and  invitation  to  attack  if  Ave 
Avent  back.  So  Ave  must  wait  in  patience,  and  trust  in  Him  who  has 
the  hearts  of  all  men  in  His  hands.  To  Thee,  0  God,  Ave  look. 
And,  oh  !  Thou  avIio  Avast  the  man  of  sorrows  for  the  sake  of  poor 
vile  sinners,  and  didst  not  disdain  the  thief's  petition,  remember 
me  and  Thy  cause  in  Africa.  Soul  and  body,  my  fiimily  and  Thy 
cause,  I  commit  all  to  Thee.     Hear,  Lord,  for  Jesus'  sake." 

In  the  entire  records  of  Christian  heroism,  there  are 
few  more  remarkable  occasions  of  the  triumph  of  the 
spirit  of  holy  trust,  than  those  which  are  recorded  here 
so  quietly  and  modestly.  We  are  carried  back  to  tbe 
days  of  the  Psalmist  :  "  I  will  not  be  afraid  often  thousand 
of  the  people  that  have  set  themselves  against  me  round 
about."  In  the  case  of  David  Livingstone  as  of  the 
other  David,  the  triumjoh  of  confidence  was  not  the  less 
wonderful  that  it  was  preceded  by  no  small  inward 
tumult.  Both  were  human  creatures.  But  in  both  the 
flutter  lasted  only  till  the  soul  had  time  to  rally  its  trust 
— to  think  of  God  as  a  living  friend,  sure  to  help  in  time 
of  need.     And  how  real  is  the  sense  of  God's  presence  ! 


1854-56J  FROM  LOANDA  TO  QUILIMANE.  183 

The  mention  of  the  two  longitudinal  ridges,  and  of  the 
refusal  of  the  people  to  give  more  than  two  canoes,  side 
bj  side  with  the  most  solemn  appeals,  would  have  been 
incongruous,  or  even  irreverent,  if  Livingstone  had  not 
felt  that  he  was  dealing  with  the  living  God,  by  whom 
every  step  of  his  own  career  and  every  movement  of  his 
enemies  were  absolutely  controlled. 

A  single  text  often  gave  him  all  the  help  he  needed : 

"  It  is  singular,"  he  says,  "  that  the  very  same  text  which  recurred 
to  my  mind  at  every  turn  of  my  course  in  life  in  this  countiy  and 
even  in  England,  should  be  the  same  as  Captain  Maclure,  the  dis- 
coverer of  the  North-west  Passage,  mentions  in  a  letter  to  his  sister 
as  familiar  in  his  experience  :  '  Trust  in  the  Lord  with  all  thine  heart, 
and  lean  not  to  thine  own  understanding.  In  all  thy  ways  acknow- 
ledge Him  and  He  shall  direct  thy  steps.  Commit  tliy  way  unto  the 
Lord  ;  trust  also  in  Him  and  He  shall  bring  it  to  pass.'  Many  more, 
I  have  no  doubt,  of  our  gallant  seamen  feel  that  it  is  graceful  to 
acknowledge  the  gracious  Lord  in  whom  we  live  and  move  and  have 
our  being.  It  is  an  advance  surely  in  humanity  from  that  devilry 
which  gloried  in  fearing  neither  God,  nor  man,  nor  devil,  and  made 
our  wooden  walls  floating  hells." 

His  being  enabled  to  reach  the  sanctuary  of  perfect 
peace  in  the  presence  of  his  enenues  was  all  the  more 
striking  if  we  consider — what  he  felt  keenly — that  to 
live  among  the  heathen  is  in  itself  very  far  from  favour- 
able to  the  vigour  or  the  prosperity  of  the  spiritual  life. 
"  Travelling  from  day  to  day  among  barbarians,"  he  says 
in  his  Journal,  "  exerts  a  most  benumbing  eftect  on  the 
religious  feelings  of  the  soul," 

Among  the  subjects  that  occupied  a  large  share  of  his 
thoughts  in  these  long  and  laborious  journeys,  two  appear 
to  have  been  especially  prominent :  first,  the  configuration 
of  the  country ;  and  second,  the  best  way  of  conducting 
missions,  and  bringing  the  people  of  Africa  to  Christ. 

The  configuration  of  intertroj)ical  South  Africa  had  long 
been  with  him  a  subject  of  earnest  study,  and  now  he  had 
come  clearly  to  the  conclusion  that  the  middle  part  was 
a  table-land,  depressed  however  in  the  centre,  and  flanked 


iS4  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  ix. 

by  longitudinal  ridges  on  the  east  and  west ;  that  origin- 
ally, the  depressed  centre  had  contained  a  vast  accumula- 
tion of  water,  which  had  found  ways  of  escape  through 
fissures  m  the  encircling  fringe  of  mountains,  the  result 
of  volcanic  action  or  of  earthquakes.  The  Victoria  Falls 
presented  the  most  remarkable  of  these  fissures,  and  thus 
served  to  verify  and  complete  his  theory.  The  great 
lakes  in  the  heart  of  South  Africa  were  the  remains  of 
the  earlier  accumulation  before  the  fissures  were  formed. 
Lake  'Ngami,  large  though  it  was,  was  but  a  Httle  fraction 
of  the  vast  lake  that  had  once  spread  itself  over  the 
south.  This  view  of  the  structure  of  South  Africa  he 
now  found,  from  a  communication  which  reached  him  at 
Linyanti,  had  been  anticipated  by  Sir  Roderick  Murchison, 
who  in  1852  had  propounded  it  to  the  Geographical 
Society.  Livingstone  was  only  amused  at  thus  losing 
the  credit  of  his  discovery ;  he  contented  himself  with  a 
playful  remark  on  his  being  "cut  out"  by  Sir  Roderick. 
But  the  coincidence  of  views  was  very  remarkable,  and  it 
lay  at  the  foundation  of  that  brotherhke  intimacy  and 
friendship  wdiich  ever  marked  his  relation  with  Murchison. 
One  important  bearing  of  the  geograjDhical  fact  was  this  : 
it  was  evident  that  while  the  low  districts  were  unhealthy, 
the  longitudinal  ridges  by  which  they  were  fringed  were 
salubrious.  Another  of  its  bearings  was,  that  it  would 
help  them  to  find  the  course  and  perhaps  the  sources  of  the 
great  rivers,  and  thus  facihtate  commercial  and  missionary 
operations.  The  discovery  of  the  two  healthy  ridges, 
which  made  him  so  unwilling  to  die  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Loangwa,  gave  him  new  hope  for  missions  and  commerce. 
These  and  other  matters  connected  with  the  state  of 
the  country  formed  the  subject  of  regular  communications 
to  the  Geographical  Society.  Between  Loanda  and  Quili- 
mane,  six  despatches  were  written  at  different  points.^ 

1  The  dates  were  Pungo  Andongo,  24th  December  1854 ;  Cabango,  17th  May 
1855  ;  Linyanti,  October  16,  1855  ;  Chauyuui,  25th  January  185(J ;  Tctte,  4th 
March  1856  ;  Quiliraaue,  23d  May  1856. 


1854-56.]  FROM  LOANDA  TO  QUILIMANE.  185 

Formerly,  as  we  have  seen,  he  had  written  through  a 
Fellow  of  the  Society,  his  friend  and  former  fellow- 
traveller.  Captain,  now  Colonel  Steele  ;  but  as  the  Colonel 
had  been  called  on  duty  to  the  Crimea,  he  now  addressed 
his  letters  to  his  countryman.  Sir  Roderick  Murchison. 
Sir  Roderick  was  charmed  w^ith  the  compliment,  and 
was  not  slow  to  turn  it  to  account,  as  appears  from  the 
following  letter,  the  first  of  very  many  communications 
which  he  addressed  to  Livingstone  : — 

"  IG  Belorave  Square,  October  2,  1855. 

"  My  dear  Sir, —  Your  most  welcome  letter  reached  me  after  I  had 
made  a  tour  in  the  Highlands,  and  just  as  the  meeting  of  the  British 
Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science  commenced. 

"  I  naturally  communicated  your  despatch  to  the  Geographical 
section  of  that  body,  and  the  reading  of  it  called  forth  an  unanimous 
expression  of  admiration  of  your  labours  and  researches. 

"  In  truth,  you  will  long  ago,  I  trust,  have  received  the  cordial 
thanks  of  all  British  geographers  for  your  unparalleled  exertions,  and 
your  successful  accomplishment  of  the  greatest  triumph  in  geographical 
research  which  has  been  effected  in  our  times. 

"  I  rejoice  that  I  was  the  individual  in  the  Council  of  the  British 
Geographical  Society  who  proposed  that  you  should  receive  our  first 
gold  medal  of  the  past  session,  and  I  need  not  say  that  the  award  was 
made  by  an  unanimous  and  cordial  vote. 

"  Permit  me  to  thank  you  sincerely  for  having  selected  me  as  your 
correspondent  in  the  absence  of  Colonel  Steele,  and  to  assure  you  that 
I  shall  consider  myself  as  much  honoured,  as  I  shall  certainly  be 
gratified,  by  every  fresh  line  which  you  may  have  leisure  to  write  to  me. 

"  Anxiously  hoping  that  I  may  make  your  personal  acquaintance, 
and  that  you  may  return  to  us  in  health  to  receive  the  homage  of  all 
geographers, — I  remain,  my  dear  Sir,  yours  most  faithfully, 

"EoD<=''  I.  Murchison." 

The  other  subject  that  chiefly  occupied  Livingstone's 
mind  at  this  time  was  missionary  labour.  This,  like  all 
other  labour,  required  to  be  organised,  on  the  principle 
of  makmg  the  very  best  use  of  all  the  force  that  was  or 
could  be  contributed  for  missionary  effort.  With  his 
fair,  open  mind,  he  weighed  the  old  method  of  monastic 
estabhshments,  and,  mutatis  mutcmdis,  he  thought  some- 
thing of  the  kind  might  be  very  useful.     He  thought  it 


1 86  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  ix. 

unfair  to  judge  of  what  these  monasteries  were  in  their 
periods  of  youth  and  vigour,  from  the  rottenness  of  their 
decay.  Modern  missionary  stations,  indeed,  with  theii' 
chiu-ches,  schools,  and  hospitals,  were  Hke  Protestant 
monasteries,  conducted  on  the  more  wholesome  principle 
of  family  life ;  but  they  wanted  stabihty ;  they  had 
not  farms  hke  monasteries,  and  hence  they  required  to 
depend  on  the  naother  country.  From  infancy  to  decay, 
they  were  pauper  institutions.  In  Livingstone's  judg- 
ment they  needed  to  have  more  of  the  self-supportmg 
element : — • 

"  It  would  be  heresy  to  mention  the  idea  of  purchasing  lands,  like 
religious  endowments,  among  the  stiff  Congregationalists;  but  an  endow- 
ment conferred  on  a  man  who  will  risk  his  life  in  an  unhealthy 
climate,  in  order,  thereby,  to  spread  Christ's  gospel  among  the  heathen, 
is  rather  different,  I  ween,  from  the  same  given  to  a  man  to  act  as 
pastor  to  a  number  of  professed  Christians.  .  .  .  Some  may  think  it 
creditable  to  our  principles  that  we  have  not  a  single  acre  of  land,  the 
gift  of  the  Colonial  Government,  in  our  possession.  But  it  does  not 
argue  much  for  our  foresight  that  we  have  not  farms  of  our  own,  equal 
to  those  of  any  colonial  farmer." 

Dr.  Livinofstone  acknowledo-ed  the  services  of  the 
Jesuit  missionaries  in  the  cause  of  education  and  hterature, 
and  even  of  commerce.  But  while  conceding  to  them 
this  meed  of  praise,  he  did  not  praise  their  worship.  He 
was  slow,  indeed,  to  disparage  any  form  of  worship — any 
form  in  which  men,  however  unenlightened,  gave  expres- 
sion to  their  religious  feelings ;  but  he  coidd  not  away 
;  with  the  sight  of  men  of  intelligence  kissing  the  toe  of  an 
A  image  of  the  Virgin,  as  he  saw  them  doing  in  a  Portuguese 
church,  and  taking  part  m  services  in  which  they  did  not, 
and  could  not,  believe.  If  the  missions  of  the  Church  of 
Pome  had  left  good  effects  on  some  parts  of  Africa,  how 
much  greater  blessing  might  not  come  from  Protestant 
missions,  with  the  Bible  instead  of  the  Syllabus  as  their 
basis,  and  animated  with  the  spiiit  of  freedom  instead  of 
despotism ! 


1 85 4-5 <J-]  FROM  LOANDA  TO  QUILIMANE.  187 

With  regard  to  that  part  of  Africa  which  he  had  been 
exploring,  he  gives  his  views  at  great  length  in  a  letter 
to  the  Directors,  dated  Linyanti,  12th  October  1855. 
After  fully  describing  the  physical  features  of  the  country, 
he  fastens  on  the  one  element  which,  more  than  any 
other,  was  likely  to  hinder  missions — fever.  He  does  not 
deny  that  it  is  a  serious  obstacle.  But  he  argues  at  great 
length  that  it  is  not  insurmountable.  Fever  yields  to 
proper  treatment.  His  own  experience  was  no  rule  to 
indicate  what  might  be  reckoned  on  by  others.  His 
journeys  had  been  made  under  the  worst  possible  con- 
ditions. Bad  food,  poor  nursing,  insufficient  medicines, 
continual  drenchings,  exliausting  heat  and  toil,  and  wear- 
ing anxiety  had  caused  much  of  his  illness.  He  gives  a 
touching  detail  of  the  hardships  incident  to  his  peculiar 
case,  from  which  other  missionaries  would  be  exempted, 
but  with  characteristic  manliness  he  charges  the  Directors 
not  to  publish  that  part  of  his  letter,  lest  he  should 
appear  to  be  making  too  much  of  his  trials.  "  Sacri- 
fices "  he  could  never  call  them,  because  nothing  could 
be  worthy  of  that  name  in  the  service  of  Him  who, 
though  he  was  rich,  for  our  sakes  became  poor.  Two  or 
three  times  every  day  he  had  been  wet  up  to  the  waist 
in  crossing  streams  and  marshy  ground.  The  rain  w^as 
so  drenching  that  he  had  often  to  put  his  watch  under 
his  arm-pit  to  keep  it  dry.  His  good  ox  Sindbad  woidd 
never  let  him  hold  an  umbrella.  His  bed  was  on  grass, 
with  only  a  horse-cloth  between.  His  food  often  con- 
sisted of  bird-seed,  manioc-roots,  and  meal.  No  wonder  if 
he  suffered  much.  Others  would  not  have  all  that  to 
l^ear.  Moreover,  if  the  fever  of  the  district  was  severe, 
it  was  almost  the  only  disease.  Consumption,  scrofula, 
madness,  cholera,  cancer,  delirium  tremens,  and  ceitam 
contagious  diseases  of  which  much  was  heard  in  civilised 
countries,  were  hardly  known.  The  beauty  of  some  parts 
of  the  country  could  not  be  surpassed.     Much  of  it  was 


1 88  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  ix. 

densely  peopled,  but  in  other  parts  the  population  was 
scattered.  Many  o£  the  tribes  were  friendly,  and,  for 
reasons  of  theu'  own,  would  welcome  missionaries.  The 
Makololo,  for  example,  furnished  an  inviting  field.  The 
dangers  he  had  encountered  arose  from  the  irritating 
treatment  the  tribes  had  received  from  half-caste  traders 
and  slave-dealers,  in  consequence  of  which  they  had  im- 
posed certain  taxes  on  travellers,  which,  sometimes,  he 
and  his  brother-chartists  had  refused  to  pay.  They  were 
mistaken  for  slave -dealers.  But  character  was*  a  powerful 
educator.  A  body  of  missionaries,  maintaining  everywhere 
the  character  of  honest,  truthful,  kind-hearted  Christian 
gentlemen,  would  scatter  such  prejudices  to  the  winds. 

In  instituting  a  comparison  between  the  direct  and 
indirect  results  of  missions,  between  conversion-work 
and  the  diffusion  of  better  principles,  he  emphatically 
assigns  the  preference  to  the  latter.  Not  that  he  under- 
valued the  conversion  of  the  most  abject  creature  that 
breathed.  To  the  man  individually  his  conversion  was 
of  overwhelming  consequence,  but  with  relation  to  the 
final  harvest,  it  was  more  important  to  sow  the  seed 
broadcast  over  a  wide  field  than  to  reap  a  few  heads  of 
grain  on  a  smgle  spot.  Concentration  was  not  the  true 
principle  of  missions.  The  Society  itself  had  felt  this, 
in  senclinof  Morrison  and  Milne  to  be  lost  among;  the  three 
hundred  millions  of  China  ;  and  the  Church  of  England, 
in  looking  to  the  Antipodes,  to  Patagonia,  to  East  Africa, 
with  the  full  knowledge  that  charity  began  at  home. 
Time  was  more  essential  than  concentration.  Ultimately 
there  would  be  more  conversions,  if  only  the  seed  were 
now  more  widely  spread. 

He  concludes  by  pointing  out  the  difference  between 
mere  worldly  enterprises  and  missionary  undertakings 
for  the  good  of  the  world.  The  world  thought  their 
mission  schemes  fanatical ;  the  friends  of  missions,  on  the 
other  hand,  could  welcome  the  commercial  enterprises  of 


1854-56.J  FROM  LOANDA   TO  QUILIMANE.  189 

the  world  as  fitted  to  be  useful.  The  Africans  were  all 
deeply  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  trade.  Commerce  was 
so  far  good  that  it  taught  the  people  their  mutual  de- 
pendence ;  but  Christianity  alone  reached  the  centre  of 
African  wants.  "  Theoretically,"  he  concludes,  "  I  would 
pronounce  the  country  about  the  junction  of  the  Leeba 
and  Leeambye  or  Kabompo,  and  river  of  the  Bashuku- 
lompo,  as  a  most  desirable  centre-point  for  the  spread  of 
civilisation  and  Christianity ;  but  unfortunately  I  must 
mar  my  report  by  saying  I  feel  a  dijBSculty  as  to  taking 
my  children  there  without  their  intelligent  self-dedication. 
I  can  speak  for  my  wife  and  myself  only.      We  will  go, 

WHOEVER  REMAINS  BEHIND." 

Kesuming  the  subject  some  months  later,  after  he  had 
got  to  the  sea-shore,  he  dwells  on  the  belt  of  elevated  land 
eastward  from  the  country  of  the  Makololo,  two  degrees 
of  longitude  broad,  and  of  unknown  length,  as  remarkably 
suitable  for  the  residence  of  European  missionaries.  It 
was  formerly  occupied  by  the  Makololo,  and  they  had  a 
great  desire  to  resume  the  occupation.  One  great  ad- 
vantage of  such  a  locality  was  that  it  was  on  the  border 
of  the  regions  occupied  by  the  true  negroes,  the  real 
nucleus  of  the  African  population,  to  whom  they  owed  a 
great  debt,  and  who  had  shown  themselves  friendly  and 
disposed  to  learn.  It  was  his  earnest  hope  that  the 
Directors  would  plant  a  mission  here,  and  his  belief  that 
they  would  thereby  confer  unlimited  blessing  on  the 
regions  beyond. 

Some  of  the  remarks  in  these  passages,  and  also  in 
the  extracts  which  we  have  given  from  his  Journals,  are 
of  profound  interest,  as  indicating  an  important  transition 
from  the  ideas  of  a  mere  missionary  labourer  to  those  of 
a  missionary  general  or  statesman.  In  the  early  part  of 
his  life  he  deemed  it  his  joy  and  his  honour  to  aim  at 
the  conversion  of  individual  souls,  and  earnestly  did  he 
labour  and  pray  for  that,  although  his  visible  success  was 


iQo  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap,  ix 

but  small.  But  as  he  gets  better  acquainted  with  Africa, 
and  reaches  a  more  commanding  point  of  view,  he  sees 
the  necessity  for  other  work.  The  continent  must  be 
surveyed,  healthy  localities  for  mission  stations  must  be 
found,  the  temptations  to  a  cursed  traffic  in  human  flesh 
must  be  removed,  the  products  of  the  country  must  be 
turned  to  account ;  its  whole  social  economy  must  be 
changed.  The  accomplishment  of  such  objects,  even  in 
a  limited  degree,  Avould  be  an  immense  service  to  the 
missionary  ;  it  would  be  such  a  preparing  of  his  way  that 
a  hundred  years  hence  the  spiritual  results  would  be  far 
greater  than  if  all  the  eflbrt  now  were  concentrated  on 
single  souls.  To  many  persons  it  appeared  as  if  dealing 
with  individual  souls  were  the  only  proper  work  of  a 
missionary,  and  as  if  one  who  had  been  doing  such  work 
would  be  lowering  himself  if  he  accepted  any  other. 
Livingstone  never  stopped  to  reason  as  to  which  was  the 
hio'her  or  the  more  desirable  work  :  he  felt  that  Provi- 
dence  was  calhng  him  to  be  less  of  a  missionary  journey- 
man and  more  of  a  missionary  statesman  ;  but  the  great 
end  was  ever  the  same — 

"  THE  END  OF  THE  GEOGRAPHICAL  FEAT  IS  ONLY 
THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  ENTERPRISE." 

Livino'stone  reached  the  Portuo^uese  settlement  of 
Tette  on  the  3d  March  1856,  and  the  '' civihsed  break- 
fast" which  the  commandant,  Major  Sicard,  sent  for- 
ward to  him,  on  his  way,  was  a  luxury  like  Mr.  Gabriel's 
bed  at  Loanda,  and  made  him  walk  the  last  eight  miles 
without  the  least  sensation  of  fatigue,  although  the  road 
was  so  rough  that,  as  a  Portuguese  soldier  remarked,  it 
was  Uke  "  to  tear  a  man's  life  out  of  him."  At  Loanda 
he  had  heard  of  the  battle  of  the  Alma ;  after  being  in 
Tette  a  short  time  he  heard  of  the  fall  of  Sebastopol  and 
the  end  of  the  Crimean  War.  He  remained  m  Tette  till 
the  23d  April,  detained  by  an  attack  of  fever,  receiving 
extraordinary  kindness  from  the  Governor,   and,   among 


1854-56.]  FROM  LOANDA  TO  QUILIMANE.  191 

other  tokens  of  affection,  a  gold  chain  for  his  daughter 
Agnes,  the  work  of  an  inhabitant  of  the  town.  These 
gifts  were  duly  acknowledged.  It  was  at  this  place  that 
Dr.  Livingstone  left  his  Makololo  followers,  with  instruc- 
tions to  wait  for  him  till  he  should  return  from  Enofland. 
Well  entitled  though  he  was  to  a  long  rest,  he  deliberately 
gave  up  the  possibility  of  it,  by  engaging  to  return  for 
his  black  companions. 

In  the  case  of  Dr.  Livingstone,  rest  meant  merely 
change  of  employment,  and  while  resting  and  recovering 
from  fever,  he  wrote  a  laro;e  budo^et  of  lono-  and  interesting 
letters.  One  of  these  was  addressed  to  the  King  of 
Portugal :  it  affords  clear  evidence  that,  however  much 
Livingstone  felt  called  to  reprobate  the  deeds  of  some  of 
his  subordinates,  he  had  a  respectful  feeling  for  the  King 
himself,  a  grateful  sense  of  the  kindness  received  from  his 
African  subjects,  and  an  honest  desire  to  aid  the  whole- 
some development  of  the  Portuguese  colonies.  It  refutes, 
by  anticipation,  calumnies  afterwards  circulated  to  the 
effect  that  Livingstone's  real  design  was  to  wrest  the 
Portuguese  settlements  in  Africa  from  Portugal,  and  to 
annex  them  to  the  British  Crown.  He  refers  most  grate- 
fully to  the  great  kindness  and  substantial  aid  he  had 
received  from  His  Majesty's  subjects,  and  is  emboldened 
thereby  to  address  him  on  behalf  of  Africa.  He  suggests 
certain  agricultural  products — especially  wheat  and  a 
species  of  wax — that  might  be  cultivated  with  enormous 
profit.  A  great  stimulus  might  be  given  to  the  cultiva- 
tion of  other  products — coffee,  cotton,  sugar,  and  oil. 
Much  had  been  done  for  Angola,  but  with  little  result, 
because  the  colonists  leant  on  Government  instead  of 
trusting  to  themselves.  Illegitimate  traffic  (the  slave- 
trade)  was  not  at  present  remunerative,  and  now  was  the 
time  to  make  a  great  effort  to  revive  wholesome  enter- 
prise. A  good  road  into  the  interior  would  be  a  great 
boon.     Efforts  to  provide  roads  and  canals  had  failed  for 


192  JJAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  ix. 

want  of  superintendents.  Dr.  Livingstone  named  a 
Portuguese  engineer  who  would  superintend  admirably. 
The  fruits  of  the  Portuguese  missions  were  still  apparent, 
but  there  was  a  great  want  of  literature,  of  books. 

"  It  will  not  be  denied,"  concludes  the  letter,  "  that  those  who,  like 
your  Majesty,  have  been  placed  over  so  many  human  souls,  have  a 
serious  responsibility  resting  upon  them  in  reference  to  their  future 
welfare.  The  absence  also  of  Portuguese  women  in  the  colony  is  a 
circumstance  which  seems  to  merit  the  attention  of  Government  for 
obvious  reasons.  And  if  any  of  these  suggestions  should  lead  to  the 
formation  of  a  middle  class  of  free  labourers,  I  feel  sure  that  Angola 
would  have  cause  to  bless  your  Majesty  to  the  remotest  time." 

Dr.  Livingstone  has  often  been  accused  of  claiming  for 
himself  the  credit  of  discoveries  made  by  others,  of  writing 
as  if  he  had  been  the  first  to  traverse  routes  in  which  he 
had  really  been  preceded  by  the  Portuguese.  Even  were 
it  true  that  now  and  then  an  obscure  Portugfuese  trader 
or  traveller  reached  spots  that  lay  in  Dr.  Livingstone's 
subsequent  route,  the  fact  would  detract  nothing  from 
his  merit,  because  he  derived  not  a  tittle  of  benefit  from 
their  experience,  and  what  he  was  concerned  about  was, 
not  the  mere  honour  of  being  first  at  a  place,  as  if  he  had 
been  running  a  race,  but  to  make  it  known  to  the  world, 
to  bring  it  into  the  circuit  of  commerce  and  Christianity, 
and  thus  place  it  under  the  influence  of  the  greatest 
blessing's.  But  even  as  to  beinor  first,  Livino-stone  was 
careful  not  to  claim  anything  that  w^as  really  due  to 
others.  Writing  from  Tette  to  Sir  Poderick  in  March  1 8 5 G, 
he  says  :  "It  seems  proper  to  mention  what  has  been 
done  in  former  times  in  the  way  of  traversing  the  conti- 
nent, and  the  result  of  my  inquiries  leads  to  the  belief 
that  the  honour  belongs  to  our  country."  He  refers  to 
the  brave  attempt  of  Captain  Jose  da  Poga,  in  1678,  to 
penetrate  from  Benguela  to  the  Pio  da  Senna,  in  which 
attempt,  however,  so  much  opposition  was  encountered 
that  he  was  compelled  to  return.  Li  1800,  Lacerda 
revived  the  project  by  proposing  a  chain  of  forts  along  the 


1854-56]  FROM  LOANDA   TO  QUILIMANE.  193 

banks  of  the  Coanza.  In  1815,  two  black  traders  showed 
the  possibility  of  communication  from  east  to  west,  by 
bringing  to  Loanda  communications  from  the  Governor  of 
Mozambique.  Some  Arabs  and  Moors  went  from  the 
East  Coast  to  Benguela,  and  vAt\\  a  view  to  improve  the 
event,  "a  million  of  Reis  (£142)  and  an  honorary  cajD- 
taincy  in  the  Portuguese  army  was  offered  to  any  one 
who  would  accompany  them  back — but  none  went."  The 
journey  had  several  times  been  performed  by  Arabs. 

"I  do  not  feel  so  much  elated,"  continued  Dr.  Livingstone,  "by 
the  prospect  of  accomplishing  this  feat.  I  feel  most  thankful  to  God 
for  preserving  my  life,  where  so  many,  who  by  superior  intelligence 
would  have  done  more  good,  have  been  cut  off.  But  it  does  not  look 
as  if  I  had  reached  the  goal.  Viewed  in  relation  to  my  calling,  the 
end  of  the  geographical  feat  is  only  the  beginning  of  the  enterprise. 
Apart  from  family  longings,  I  have  a  most  intense  longing  to  hear 
how  it  has  fared  with  our  brave  men  at  Sebastopol.  My  last  scrap  of 
intelligence  was  the  Times,  17th  November  1855,  after  the  terrible 
affair  of  the  Light  Cavalry.  The  news  was  not  certain  about  a  most 
determined  attack  to  force  the  way  to  Balaclava,  and  Sebastopol  ex- 
pected every  day  to  fall,  and  I  have  had  to  repress  all  my  longings 
since,  except  in  a  poor  prayer  to  prosper  the  cause  of  justice  and  right, 
and  cover  the  heads  of  our  soldiers  in  the  day  of  battle."  [A  few  days 
later  he  heard  the  news.]  "  We  are  all  engaged  in  very  much  the  same 
cause.  Geographers,  astronomers,  and  mechanicians,  labouring  to  make 
men  better  acquainted  with  each  other;  sanitary  reformers,  prison 
reformers,  promoters  of  ragged  schools  and  Niger  Exj^editions  ;  soldiers 
fighting  for  right  against  oppression,  and  sailors  rescuing  captives  in 
deadly  climes,  as  well  as  missionaries,  are  all  aiding  in  hastening  on 
a  glorious  consummation  to  all  God's  dealings  with  our  race.  In  the 
hope  that  I  may  yet  be  honoured  to  do  some  good  to  this  poor 
long  downtrodden  Africa,  the  gentlemen  over  whom  you  have  the 
honour  to  preside  will,  I  believe,  cordially  join." 

From  Tette  he  went  on  to  Senna.  Ao-ain  he  is 
treated  with  extraordinary  kindness  by  Lieutenant 
Miranda,  and  others,  and  again  he  is  prostrated  by  an 
attack  of  fever.  Provided  with  a  comfortable  boat,  he  at 
last  reaches  Quilimane  on  the  20tli  May,  and  is  most 
kindly  received  by  Colonel  Nunes,  "one  of  the  best 
men  in  the  country."  Dr.  Livingstone  has  told  us  in  his 
book  how  his  joy  in  reaching  Quilimane  was  embittered 

N 


194  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  ix. 

on  his  learning  that  Captain  Machire,  Lieutenant  Wood- 
ruffe,  and  live  men  of  H.  M.  S.  "  Dart,"  had  been  drowned 
off  the  bar  in  coming  to  QuiUmane  to  pic^  him  up,  and 
liow  he  felt  as  if  he  would  rather  have  died  for  them.^ 

Xews  from  across  the  Atlantic  likewise  informed  him 
that  his  nephew  and  namesake,  David  Livingston,  a  fine 
lad  eleven  years  of  age,  had  been  drowned  in  Canada. 
All  the  deeper  was  his  gratitude  for  the  goodness  and 
mercy  that  had  followed  him  and  preserved  him,  as  he 
says  in  his  private  Journal,  from  "  many  dangers  not 
recorded  in  this  book.'' 

The  retrospect  in  his  Missionary  Travels  of  the  manner 
in  which  his  life  had  been  ordered  up  to  this  point,  is  so 
strikino'  that  our  narrative  would  be  deficient  if  it  did 
not  contain  it : — 

"If  the  reader  remembers  the  way  in  which  I  was  led,  while 
teaching  the  Bakwains,  to  commence  exploration,  he  will,  I  think, 
recognise  the  hand  of  Providence.  Anterior  to  that,  when  ]Mr. 
JMoffat  began  to  give  the  Bible — the  ]\Iagna  Charta  of  all  the  rights 
and  privileges  of  modern  civilisation — to  the  Bechuanas,  Sebituane 
^\■ent  north,  and  spread  the  language  into  which  he  was  translating 
the  sacred  oracles,  in  a  new  region  larger  than  France.  Sebituane,  at 
the  same  time,  rooted  out  hordes  of  bloody  savages,  among  whom  no 
white  man  could  have  gone  without  leaving  his  skull  to  ornament 
some  village.  He  opened  up  the  way  for  me — let  us  hope  also  for  the 
Bible.  Then,  again,  while  I  was  labouring  at  Kolobeng,  seeing  only 
a  small  arc  of  the  cycle  of  Providence,  I  could  not  understand  it,  and 
felt  inclined  to  ascribe  our  successive  and  prolonged  droughts  to  the 
wicked  one.  But  when  forced  by  these,  and  the  Boers,  to  become 
explorer,  and  open  a  new  country  in  the  north  rather  than  set  my 
face  southward,  where  missionaries  are  not  needed,  the  gracious  Spirit 
of  God  influenced  the  minds  of  the  heathen  to  regard  me  with  favour, 
the  Divine  hand  is  again  perceived.  Then  I  turned  away  westwards, 
rather  than  in  the  opposite  direction,  chiefly  from  observing  that  some 
native  Portuguese,  though  influenced  by  the  hope  of  a  reward  from 
their  Government  to  cross  the  continent,  had  been  obliged  to  return 
from  the  east  without  accomplishing   their  object.     Had  I  gone  at 

^  Among  Livingstone's  papers  we  have  found  draft  letter  to  the  Admiralty, 
earnestly  commending  to  their  Lordships'  favourable  consideration  a  petition  from 
the  widow  of  one  of  tlie  men.  He  had  never  seen  her,  he  said,  but  he  had  been 
the  unconscious  cause  of  her  husband's  death,  and  all  the  joy  he  felt  in  crossing 
the  continent  was  embittered  when  the  news  of  the  sad  catastrophe  reached  him. 


1854-56.]  FROAI  LOANDA  TO  QUILIMANE.  195 

first  in  the  eastern  direction,  which  the  course  of  the  great  Leeambye 
seemed  to  invite,  I  should  have  come  among  the  belligerents  near 
Tette  when  the  war  was  raging  at  its  height,  instead  of,  as  it  happened, 
when  all  Avas  over.  And  again,  when  enabled  to  reach  Loanda,  the 
resolution  to  do  my  duty  by  going  back  to  Linyanti  probably  saved 
me  from  the  fate  of  my  papei-s  in  the  '  Forerunner.'  And  then,  last 
of  all,  this  new  country  is  partially  opened  to  the  sympathies  of 
Christendom,  and  I  find  that  Sech^le  liimself  has,  though  unbidden  by 
man,  been  teaching  his  own  people.  In  fact,  he  has  been  doing  all  that 
I  was  prevented  from  doing,  and  I  have  been  employed  in  exploring — 
a  work  I  had  no  previous  intention  of  performing.  I  think  that  I  see 
the  operation  of  the  Unseen  Hand  in  all  this,  and  I  humbly  hope  that 
it  will  still  guide  me  to  do  good  in  my  day  and  generation  in  Africa." 

In  looking  forward  to  the  work  to  which  Providence 
seemed  to  be  calling  him,  a  communication  received  at 
Quilimane  disturbed  him  not  a  little.  It  was  from  the 
London  Missionary  Society.  It  informed  him  that  the 
Directors  were  restricted  in  their  power  of  aiding  plans 
connected  only  remotely  with  the  spread  of  the  gospel, 
and  that  even  though  certain  obstacles  (from  tsetse,  etc.) 
should  prove  surmountable,  "  the  financial  circumstances 
of  the  Society  are  not  such  as  to  afford  any  ground  of 
hope  that  it  would  be  in  a  position  within  any  definite 
period  to  undertake  untried  any  remote  and  difficult 
fields  of  labour/'  Dr.  Livingstone  very  naturally  under- 
stood this  as  a  declinature  of  his  proposals.  Writing  on 
the  subject  to  Rev.  "William  Thompson,  the  Society's 
agent  at  Cape  Town,  he  said  : — 

"  I  had  imagined  in  ray  simplicity  that  both  my  preaching,  conver- 
sation, and  travel  were  as  nearly  connected  with  the  spread  of  the 
gospel  as  the  Boers  would  allow  them  to  be.  A  plan  of  opening  up  a 
path  from  either  the  east  or  west  coast  for  the  teeming  population  of 
the  interior  was  submitted  to  the  judgment  of  the  Directors,  and 
received  their  formal  approbation. 

"  I  have  been  seven  times  in  peril  of  my  life  from  savage  men  while 
laboriously  and  without  swerving  pursuing  that  plan,  and  never 
doubting  that  I  was  in  the  path  of  dutj% 

"  Indeed,  so  clearly  did  I  perceive  that  I  was  performing  good 
service  to  the  cause  of  Christ,  that  I  wrote  to  my  brother  that  I  would 
perish  rather  than  fail  in  my  enterprise.  I  shall  not  boast  of  what  I 
have  done,  but  the  wonderful  mercy  I  have  received  will  constrain  me 
to  follow  out  the  work  in  spite  of  the  veto  of  the  Board. 


196  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  ix. 

"  If  it  is  according  to  the  will  of  God,  means  Avill  be  provided  from 
other  riuarters." 

A  long  letter  to  the  Secretary  gives  a  fuller  statement 
of  his  views.  It  is  so  important  as  throwing  light  on  his 
missionary  consistency,  that  we  give  it  in  full  in  the 
Appendix.^ 

The  Directors  showed  a  much  more  sympathetic  spirit 
when  Livingstone  came  among  them,  but  meanwhile,  as 
he  tells  us  in  his  book,  his  old  feeling  of  independence 
had  returned,  and  it  did  not  seem  probable  that  he  would 
remain  iji  the  same  relation  to  the  Society. 

After  Livingstone  had  been  six  weeks  at  Quilimane, 
H.M.  brig  "  Frohc  "  arrived,  with  ample  supplies  for  all 
his  need,  and  took  him  to  the  Maiuritius,  where  he  arrived 
on  12th  August  1856.  It  was  during  this  voyage  that 
the  lamentable  insanity  and  suicide  of  his  native  attendant 
Sekwebu  occurred,  of  which  we  have  an  account  in  the 
Missionary  Travels.  At  the  Mauritius  he  was  the  guest 
of  General  Hay,  from  whom  he  received  the  greatest 
kindness,  and  so  rapid  was  his  recovery  from  an 
affection  of  the  spleen  which  his  numerous  fevers  had 
bequeathed,  that  before  he  left  the  island  he  wrote  to 
Commodore  Trotter  and  other  friends  that  he  was- perfectly 
well,  and  "  quite  ready  to  go  back  to  Africa  again."  This 
however  was  not  to  be  just  yet.  In  November  he  sailed 
through  the  Red  Sea,  on  the  homeward  route.  He  had 
expected  to  land  at  Southampton,  and  there  Mrs.  Living- 
stone and  other  friends  had  gone  to  welcome  him.  But 
the  perils  of  travel  w^ere  not  yet  over.  A  serious  accident 
befell  the  ship,  which  might  have  been  followed  by  fatal 
results  but  for  that  good  Providence  that  held  the  life  of 
Livingstone  so  carefully.  Writing  to  Mrs.  Livingstone 
from  the  Bay  of  Tunis  (27th  November  1856),  he  says  : — 

"  We  had  very  rough  weather  after  leaving  Malta,  and  yesterday  at 
midday  the  shaft  of  the  engine — an  enormous  mass  of  malleable  iron — 

*  Appendix  No.  III.,  p.  4S1. 


1854-56.]  FROM  LOANDA  TO  QUILIMANE.  197 

broke  with  a  sort  of  oblique  fracture,  evidently  from  the  terrific  strains 
which  the  tremendous  seas  inflicted  as  they  thumped  and  tossed 
this  gigantic  vessel  like  a  plaything.  We  were  near  the  island  called 
Zembra,  which  is  in  sight  of  the  Bay  of  Tunis.  The  wind,  which  had 
been  a  full  gale  ahead  when  we  did  not  require  it,  now  fell  to  a  dead 
calm,  and  a  current  was  drifting  our  gallant  ship,  with  her  sails  flapping 
all  helplessly,  against  the  rocks ;  the  boats  were  provisioned,  watered, 
and  armed,  the  number  each  was  to  carry  arranged  (the  women  and 
children  to  go  in  first,  of  course),  when  most  providentially  a  wind 
sprung  up  and  carried  us  out  of  danger  into  the  Bay  of  Tunis,  where  I 
now  write.  The  whole  aff"air  was  managed  by  Captain  Powell  most 
admirably.  He  was  assisted  by  two  gentlemen  whom  we  all  admire — 
Captain  Tregear  of  the  same  Company,  and  Lieutenant  Chimnis  of  the 
Eoyal  Navy,  and  though  they  and  the  sailors  knew  that  the  vessel  was 
so  near  destruction  as  to  render  it  certain  that  we  should  scarcely  clear 
her  in  the  boats  before  the  swell  would  have  overwhelmed  her,  all  was 
managed  so  quietly  that  none  of  us  passengers  knew  much  about  it. 
Though  we  saw  the  preparation  no  alarm  spread  among  us.  The 
Company  will  do  everything  in  their  power  to  forward  us  quickly  and 
safely.  I  'm  only  sorry  for  your  sake,  but  patience  is  a  great  virtue, 
you  know.  Captain  Tregear  has  been  six  years  away  from  his  family, 
I  only  four  and  a  half." 

The  passengers  were  sent  on  via  Marseilles,  and 
Livingstone  proceeded  homewards  by  Paris  and  Dover. 

At  last  he  reached  "dear  old  England"  on  the  9th 
of  December  1856.  Tidings  of  a  great  sorrow  had  reached 
him  on  the  way.  At  Cairo  he  heard  of  the  death  of  his 
father.  He  had  been  ill  a  fortnight,  and  died  full  of  faith 
and  peace.  "  You  wished  so  much  to  see  David,"  said 
his  daughter  to  him  as  his  life  was  ebbing  away.  "  Ay, 
very  much,  very  much ;  but  the  will  of  the  Lord  be 
done."  Then  after  a  pause  he  said,  'But  I  think  I'll 
know  whatever  is  worth  knowing  about  him.  When  you 
see  him,  tell  him  I  think  so."  David  had  not  less  eagerly 
desired  to  sit  once  more  at  the  fireside  and  tell  his  father 
of  all  that  had  befallen  him  on  the  way.  On  both  sides 
the  desire  had  to  be  classed  among  hopes  unfulfilled. 
But  on  both  sides  there  was  a  vivid  impression  that  the 
joy  so  narrowly  missed  on  earth  would  be  found  in  a 
purer  form  in  the  next  stage  of  being. 


198  DAVID  LIVINGSTOJSIE.  [chap.  x. 


CHAPTEE  X. 

FIRST    VISIT   HOME. 

A.D.  1856-1857. 

Mrs.  Livingstone — Her  intense  anxieties— Her  poetical  welcome — Congratulatory 
letters  from  Mrs.  and  Dr.  Moffat— Meeting  of  welcome  of  Ilo3'al  Geographical 
Society — of  London  Missionary  Society — Meeting  in  Mansion  House- 
Enthusiastic  pu])lic  meeting  at  Cape  Town — Livingstone  visits  Hamilton- 
Returns  to  London  to  write  his  book — Letter  to  Mr.  iSIaclear — Dr.  Eisdon 
Bennett's  reminiscences  of  this  period — Mr.  Frederick  Fitch's— Interview 
with  Prince  Consort — Honours — Publication  and  great  success  of  Missionary 
Travels — Character  and  design  of  the  book — Why  it  was  not  more  of  a 
missionary  record — Handsome  conduct  of  publisher — Generous  use  of  the 
profits — Letter  to  a  lady  in  Carlisle  vindicating  the  character  of  his  speeches. 

The  years  that  had  elapsed  since  Dr.  Livingstone  bade 
his  wife  farewell  at  Cape  Town  had  been  to  her  years  of 
deep  and  often  terrible  anxiety.  Letters,  as  we  have 
seen,  Avere  often  lost,  and  none  seem  more  frequently  to 
have  gone  missing  than  those  between  him  and  her.  A 
stranger  in  England,  without  a  home,  broken  m  health, 
with  a  family  of  four  to  care  for,  often  without  tidings  of 
her  husband  for  great  stretches  of  time,  and  harassed 
with  anxieties  and  apprehensions  that  sometimes  proved 
too  much  for  her  faith,  the  strain  on  her  was  very  great. 
Those  who  knew  her  in  Africa,  when,  "  queen  of  the 
wagon,"  and  full  of  life,  she  directed  the  arrangements 
and  sustained  the  spirits  of  a  whole  party,  would  hardly 
have  thought  her  the  same  person  in  England.  When 
Livingstone  had  been  longest  unheard  of,  her  heart  sank 
altogether ;  but  through  prayer,  tranquillity  of  mind 
returned,  even  before  the  arrival  of  any  letter  announcing 
his  safety.     She  had  been  waiting  for  him  at  Southamp- 


1856-57-]  FIRST  VISIT  HOME.  19^ 

ton,  and,  owing  to  the  casualty  in  the  Bay  of  Tunis,  he 
arrived  at  Dover,  but  as  soon  as  possible  he  was  with 
her,  reading  the  poetical  welcome  which  she  had  pre- 
pared in  the  hope  that  they  would  never  part  again  : — 

"  A  hundred  thousand  welcomes,  and  it 's  time  for  you  to  come 
From  the  far  land  of  the  foreigner,  to  your  country  and  your  home. 

0  long  as  we  were  parted,  ever  since  you  went  away, 

1  never  passed  a  dreamless  night,  or  knew  an  easy  day. 

Do  you  think  I  would  reproach  you  with  the  sorrows  that  I  bore  1 
Since  the  sorrow  is  all  over,  now  I  have  you  here  once  more, 
And  there  's  nothing  but  the  gladness,  and  the  love  within  my  heart, 
And  the  hope  so  sweet  and  certain  that  again  we  '11  never  part. 


A  hundred  thousand  welcomes !  how  my  heart  is  gushing  o'er 
With  the  love  and  joy  and  Avonder  thus  to  see  your  face  once  more. 
How  did  I  live  without  you  these  long  long  years  of  woe  % 
It  seems  as  if  'twould  kill  me  to  be  parted  from  you  now. 

You  '11  never  part  me,  darling,  there 's  a  promise  in  your  eye ; 
I  may  tend  you  while  I  'm  living,  you  will  watch  me  when  I  die  • 
And  if  death  but  kindly  lead  me  to  the  blessed  home  on  high, 
What  a  hundred  thousand  welcomes  will  await  you  in  the  sky  !        1/ 

"  Maiiy.  " 

Having;  for  once  lifted  the  domestic  veil,  we  cannot 
resist  the  temptation  to  look  into  another  corner  of  the 
home  circle.  Among  the  letters  of  congratulation  that 
poured  in  at  this  time,  none  was  more  sincere  or  touch- 
ino^  than  that  which  Mrs.  Livino-stone  received  from  her 
mother,  Mrs.  Moffat.^  In  the  fulness  of  her  congratula- 
tions she  does  not  forget  the  dark  shadow  that  falls  on 
the  missionary's  wife  when  the  time  comes  for  her  to  go 
back  with  her  husband  to  their  foreign  home,  and  requires 
her  to  part  from  her  children  ;  tears  and  smiles  mingle  in 

1  AVe  have  been  greatly  impressed  by  Mrs.  Moffat's  letters.  She  was  evidently 
a  woman  of  remarkable  power.  If  her  life  had  been  published,  we  are  convinced 
that  it  M'ould  have  been  a  notable  one  in  missionary  biogi-aphy.  Heart  and  head 
were  evidently  of  no  common  calibre.  Perhaps  it  is  not  yet  too  late  for  some 
friend  to  think  of  this. 


2  00  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  x. 

Mrs.  Moffat's  letter  as  she  reminds  lier  daughter  that  they 
that  rejoice  need  to  be  as  though  they  rejoiced  not : — 

"  Kiiniman,  December  4,  1856. — My  dearest  Mary, — In  pro- 
portion to  the  anxiety  I  have  experienced  about  you  and  your  dear 
husband  for  some  years  past,  so  now  is  my  joy  and  satisfaction  ;  even 
though  Ave  have  not  yet  heard  the  glad  tidings  of  your  having  really 
met,  but  this  for  the  present  we  take  for  granted.  Having  from  the 
first  been  in  a  subdued  and  chastened  state  of  mind  on  the  subject,  I 
endeavour  still  to  be  moderate  in  my  joy.  With  regard  to  you  both 
ofttimes  has  the  sentence  of  death  been  passed  in  my  mind,  and  at 
?uch  seasons  I  dared  not,  desired  not,  to  rebel,  submissively  leaving  all 
to  the  Divine  disposal ;  but  I  now  feel  that  this  has  been  a  suitable 
prejiaration  for  what  is  before  me,  having  to  contemplate  a  complete 
separation  from  you  till  that  day  Avhen  we  meet  with  the  spirits  of 
just  men  made  perfect  in  the  kingdom  of  our  Father.  Yes,  I  do  feel 
solemn  at  death,  but  there  is  no  melancholy  about  it,  for  what  is  our 
life,  so  short  and  so  transient  ?  And  seeing  it  is  so,  Ave  should  be 
happy  to  do  or  to  suffer  as  much  as  Ave  can  for  Him  Avho  bought  us 
Avith  His  blood.  Should  you  go  to  those  Avilds  Avhich  God  has  enabled 
your  husband,  through  numerous  dangers  and  deaths,  to  penetrate, 
there  to  spend  the  remainder  of  your  life,  and  as  a  consequence  there 
to  suffer  manifold  privations,  in  addition  to  those  trials  through  Avhich 
you  have  already  passed — and  they  have  not  been  feAv  (for  you  had  a 
hard  life  in  this  interior) — you  Avill  not  think  all  too  much,  Avhen  you 
.stand  Avith  that  multitude  Avho  have  Avashed  their  robes  in  the  blood 
of  the  Lamb  ! 

"  Yet,  my  dear  Mary,  Avhile  we  are  yet  in  the  flesh  my  heart  Avill 
yearn  over  you.  You  are  my  OAvn  dear  child,  my  first-born,  and 
recent  circumstances  have  had  a  tendency  to  make  me  feel  still  more 
tenderly  toAA-ards  you,  and  deeply  as  I  have  sympathised  with  you  for 
the  last  feAv  years,  I  shall  not  cease  to  do  so  for  the  future.  Already 
is  my  imagination  busy  picturing  the  various  scenes  through  Avhich 
you  must  pass,  from  the  first  transport  of  joy  on  meeting  till  that 
painful  anxious  hour  Avhen  you  must  bid  adieu  to  your  darlings,  Avith 
faint  hopes  of  ever  seeing  them  again  in  this  life ;  and  then,  Avhat  you 
may  both  have  to  pass  through  in  those  inhospitable  regions.  .  .  . 

"  From  what  I  saw  in  Mr.  Livingston's  letter  to  Robert,  I  Avas 
shocked  to  think  that  that  poor  head,  in  the  prime  of  manhood,  Avas 
so  like  my  own,  Avho  am  literally  Avorn  out.  The  symptoms  he 
describes  are  so  like  my  OAvn.  Noa\%  Avith  a  little  rest  and  relaxation, 
having  youth  on  his  side,  he  might  regain  all,  but  I  cannot  help 
fearing  for  him  if  he  dashes  at  once  into  hardships  again.  He  is 
certainly  the  Avonder  of  his  age,  and  Avith  a  little  prudence  as  regards 
his  health,  the  stores  of  information  he  noAv  possesses  might  be  turned 
to  a  mighty  account  for  poor  Avretched  Africa.  .  .  .  We  do  not 
yet   see    how    Mr.    L.  Avill  get    on — the  case  seems  so  complex,     I 


1 85 6-5  7-]  FIRST  VISIT  HOME.  20i 

feel,  as  I  have  often  done,  that  as  regards  ourselves  it  is  a  subject 
more  for  prayer  than  for  deliberation,  separated  as  we  are  by  such 
distances,  and  such  a  tardy  and  eccentric  post,  I  used  to  imagine 
that  Avhen  he  was  once  got  out  safely  from  this  dark  continent  Ave 
should  only  have  to  praise  God  for  all  His  mercies  to  him  and  to  us 
all,  and  for  what  He  had  effected  by  him  ;  but  now  I  see  we  must  go 
on  seeking  the  guidance  and  direction  of  His  providential  hand,  and 
sustaining  and  preventing  mercy.  We  cannot  cease  to  remember  you 
daily,  and  thus  our  sympathy  Avill  be  kept  alive  with  you.  ..." 

Dr.    Moifat's   conefratulation   to   his   son-in-law   was 


"to 


calm  and  hearty  : — 

"  Your  explorations  have  created  immense  interest,  and  especially 
in  England,  and  that  man  must  be  made  of  bend-leather  who  can 
remain  unmoved  at  the  rehearsal  even  of  a  tithe  of  your  daring  enter- 
prises. The  honours  awaiting  you  at  home  would  be  enough  to  make 
a  score  of  light  heads  dizzy,  but  I  have  no  fear  of  their  affecting  your 
upper  story,  beyond  showing  you  that  your  labours  to  lay  open  the 
recesses  of  the  vast  interior  have  been  appreciated.  It  will  be  almost 
too  much  for  dear  ]\Iary  to  hear  that  you  are  verily  unscathed.  She 
has  had  many  to  sympathise  with  her,  and  I  daresay  many  have  called 
you  a  very  naughty  man  for  thus  having  exposed  your  life  a  thousand 
times.  Be  that  as  it  may,  you  have  succeeded  beyond  the  most 
sanguine  expectations  in  laying  open  a  world  of  immortal  beings,  all 
needing  the  gospel,  and  at  a  time,  now  that  war  is  over,  when  people 
may  exert  their  energies  on  an  object  compared  with  Avhich  that 
which  has  occupied  the  master  minds  of  Europe,  and  expended  so 
much  money,  and  shed  so  much  blood,  is  but  a  phantom." 

On  the  9th  of  December,  as  we  have  seen,  Living- 
stone arrived  at  London.  He  went  first  to  Southampton, 
where  his  wife  was  waiting  for  him,  and  on  his  return  to 
London  was  quickly  in  communication  with  Sir  Roderick 
Murchison.  On  the  1 5th  December  the  Royal  Geographical 
Society  held  a  special  meeting  to  welcome  him.  Sir 
Roderick  was  in  the  cliair  ;  the  attendance  was  numerous 
and  distinguished,  and  included  some  of  Livingstone's 
previous  fellow-travellers,  Colonel  Steele,  Captain  Vardon, 
and  Mr.  Oswell.  The  President  refeiTcd  to  the  meeting 
of  May  1855,  when  the  Victoria  or  Patron's  medal  had 
been  awarded  to  Livingstone  for  his  journey  from  the 
Cape  to  Linyanti  and  Loanda.     Now  Livingstone  had 


202  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  x. 

added  to  that  feat  the  journey  from  the  Atlantic  Ocean 
at  Loanda  to  the  Indian  Ocean  at  Quilimane,  and  during 
his  several  journeys  had  travelled  over  not  less  than 
eleven  thousand  miles  of  African  ground.  Surpassing  the 
French  missionary  travellers,  Hue  and  Gabet,  he  had 
determined,  by  astronomical  observations,  the  site  of 
numerous  places,  hills,  rivers,  and  lakes,  previously 
unknown.  He  had  seized  every  opportunity  of  describing 
the  physical  structure,  geology,  and  climatology  of  the 
countries  traversed,  and  making  known  their  natural 
products  and  capabilities.  He  had  ascertained  by  experi- 
ence, what  had  been  only  conjectured  previously,  that  the 
interior  of  Africa  was  a  plateau  intersected  by  various 
lakes  and  rivers,  the  waters  of  which  escaped  to  the 
Eastern  and  Western  Oceans  by  deep  rents  in  the  flanking 
hills.  Great  though  these  achievements  were,  the  most 
honourable  of  all  Livingstone's  acts  had  yet  to  be  men- 
tioned— the  fidelity  that  kept  his  promise  to  the  natives, 
who  having  accompanied  him  to  St.  Paul  de  Loanda, 
were  reconducted  by  liim  from  that  city  to  their  homes. 

"  Rare  fortitude  and  virtue  must  our  medallist  have  possessed, 
Avlien,  having  struggled  at  the  imminent  risk  of  his  life  through  such 
obstacles,  and  when,  escaping  from  the  interior,  he  had  been  received 
with  true  kindness  by  our  old  allies  the  Portuguese  at  Angola,  he  nobly- 
resolved  to  redeem  his  promise  and  retrace  his  steps  to  the  interior  of 
the  vast  continent !  How  much  indeed  must  the  influence  of  the 
British  name  be  enhanced  throughout  Africa,  when  it  has  been 
promulgated  that  our  missionary  has  thus  kept  his  plighted  word  to 
the  poor  natives  who  faithfully  stood  by  him  !" 

On  receiving  the  medal,  Livingstone  apologised  for 
his  rustiness  in  the  use  of  his  native  tongue  ;  said  that 
he  had  only  done  his  duty  as  a  Christian  missionary  in 
opening  up  a  part  of  Africa  to  the  sympathy  of  Christen- 
dom :  that  Steele,  Vardon,  or  Oswell  might  have  done  all 
that  he  had  done  ;  that  as  yet  he  was  only  buckling  on 
his  armour,  and  therefore  in  no  condition  to  speak 
boastfully ;    and   that   the    enterprise    would    never  be 


1 356-5 7-]  FIRST  VISIT  HOME.  203 

complete  till  the  slave-trade  was  abolished,  and  the 
whole  country  opened  up  to  commerce  and  Christianity. . 

Among  the  distinguished  men  who  took  part  in  the 
conversation  that  followed  was  Professor  Owen.  He  bore 
testimony  to  the  value  of  Livingstone's  contributions  to 
zoology  and  palaeontology,  not  less  cordial  than  Sir 
Roderick  Murchison  had  borne  to  his  service  to  geo- 
graphy. Pie  had  listened  with  very  intense  interest  to 
the  sketches  of  these  magnificent  scenes  of  animal  life 
that  his  old  and  most  esteemed  friend  had  given  them. 
He  cordially  hoped  that  many  more  such  contributions 
would  follow,  and  expressed  his  admiration  of  the  moral 
qualities  of  the  man  who  had  taken  such  pains  to  keep 
his  word. 

In  the  recognition  by  other  gentlemen  of  Dr.  Living- 
stone's labours,  much  stress  was  laid  on  the  scientific 
accuracy  with  which  he  had  laid  down  every  point  over 
which  he  had  travelled.  Thanks  were  given  to  the 
PortuDfuese  authorities  in  Africa  for  the  remarkable  kind- 
ness  which  they  had  invariably  shown  him.  Mr.  Consul 
Brand  reported  tidings  from  Mr.  Gabriel  at  Loanda,  to 
the  eflPect  that  a  company  of  Sekeletu's  people  had 
arrived  at  Loanda,  with  a  cargo  of  ivory,  and  though 
they  had  not  been  very  successful  in  business,  they  had 
shown  the  practicability  of  the  route.  He  added,  that 
Dr.  Livingstone,  at  Loanda,  had  written  some  letters  to 
a  newspaper,  which  had  given  such  an  impetus  to  literary 
taste  there,  that  a  new  journal  had  been  started — the 
Loanda  Aurora. 

On  one  other  point  there  was  a  most  cordial  expression 
of  feeling,  especially  by  those  who  had  themselves  been 
in  South  Africa, — gratitude  for  the  unbounded  kindness 
and  hospitality  that  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Livingstone  had  shown 
to  South  African  travellers  in  the  neighbourhood  of  their 
home.  Happily  Mrs.  Livingstone  was  present,  and  heard 
this  acknowledgment  of  her  kindness. 


204  DA  VW  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  x. 

Next  day,  16th  December,  Dr.  Livingstone  had  his 
reception  from  the  London  Missionary  Society  in  Free- 
masons' Hall.     Lord  Shaftesbury  was  in  the  chair  : — 

"  "What  better  thing  can  we  do,"  asked  the  noble  Earl,  "  than  to 
welcome  such  a  man  to  the  shores  of  our  country  %  What  better  than 
to  receive  him  with  thanksgiving  and  rejoicings  that  he  is  spared  to 
refresh  us  with  his  presence,  and  give  his  strength  to  future  exertions  % 
What  season  more  appropriate  than  this,  when  at  every  hearth,  and  in 
every  congregation  of  Avorshippers,  the  name  of  Christ  will  be  honoured 
with  more  than  ordinary  devotion,  to  receive  a  man  whose  life  and 
labours  have  been  in  humble,  hearty,  and  willing  obedience  to  the 
angels'  song,  '  Glory  to  God  in  the  highest,  on  earth  peace,  good- 
Avill  towards  men.' " 

In  reply,  Livingstone  acknowledged  the  kindness  of 
the  Directors,  with  whom,  for  sixteen  years,  he  had  never 
had  a  word  of  difference.  He  referred  to  the  slowness  of 
the  African  tribes,  in  explanation  of  the  comparatively 
small  progress  of  the  gospel  among  them.  He  cordially 
acknowledged  the  great  services  of  the  British  squadron 
on  the  West  Coast  in  the  repressing  of  the  slave-trade. 
He  had  been  told  that  to  make  such  explorations  as  he 
was  engaged  in  was  only  a  tempting  of  Providence,  but 
such  ridiculous  assertions  were  only  the  utterances  of  the 
Aveaker  brethren. 

Lord  Shaftesbury's  words  at  the  close  of  this  meeting, 
in  honour  of  Mrs.  Livingstone,  deserve  to  be  per- 
petuated : — • 

"  That  lady,"  he  said,  "  was  born  Avith  one  distinguished  name, 
Avhich  she  had  changed  for  another.  She  Avas  born  a  Moffat,  and  she 
became  a  Livingstone.  She  cheered  the  early  part  of  our  friend's 
career  by  her  spirit,  her  counsel,  and  her  society.  AfterAvards,  Avhen 
she  reached  this  country,  she  passed  many  years  with  her  children  in 
.«;olitude  and  anxiety,  suffering  the  greatest  fears  for  the  Avelfare  of  her 
husband,  and  yet  enduring  all  Avith  patience  and  resignation,  and  even 
joy,  because  she  had  surrendered  her  best  feelings,  and  sacrificed  her 
own  private  interests  to  the  advancement  of  civilisation  and  the  great 
interests  of  Christianity." 

A  more  ofenerai  meeting  was  held  in  the  Mansion 
House  on  the  5th  of  January;  to  consider  the  propriety 


1 85 6-5  7.]  FIRST  VISIT  HOME.  205 

of  presenting  a  testimonial  to  Dr.  Livingstone.  It  was 
addressed  by  the  Bishop  of  London,  Mr.  Raikes  Currie, 
and  others. 

Meanwhile  a  sensible  impulse  was  given  to  the  scientific 
enthusiasm  for  Livingstone  by  the  arrival  of  the  report 
of  a  great  meeting  held  in  Africa  itself,  in  honour  of  the 
missionary  explorer.  At  Cape  Town,  on  1 2th  November 
1856,  His  Excellency  the  Governor,  Sir  George  Grey,  the 
Colonial  Secretary,  the  Astronomer-Royal,  the  Attorney- 
General,  Mr.  Rutherfoord,  the  Bishop,  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Thompson,  and  others,  vied  with  each  other  in  expressing 
their  sense  of  Livingstone's  character  and  work.  The 
testimony  of  the  Astronomer-Royal  to  Livingstone's 
eminence  as  an  astronomical  observer  was  even  more 
emphatic  than  Murchison's  and  Owen's  to  his  attainments 
in  geography  and  natural  history.  Going  over  his  whole 
career,  Mr.  Maclear  showed  his  unexampled  achievements 
in  accurate  lunar  observation.  "  I  never  knew  a  man," 
he  said,  "  who,  knowing  scarcely  anything  of  the  method 
of  making  geographical  observations,  or  laying  down 
jDOsitions,  became  so  soon  an  adept,  that  he  could  take 
the  complete  lunar  observation,  and  altitudes  for  time, 
within  fifteen  minutes."  His  observations  of  the  course 
of  the  Zambesi,  from  Seshdke  to  its  confluence  with  the 
Lonta,  were  considered  by  the  Astronomer-Royal  to  be 
"  the  finest  specimens  of  sound  geographical  observation 
he  ever  met  with." 

"  To  give  an  idea  of  the  laboriousness  of  this  branch  of  his  work," 
he  adds,  "  on  an  average  each  lunar  distance  consists  of  five  partial 
observations,  and  there  are  148  sets  of  distances,  being  740  contacts, — 
and  there  are  two  altitudes  of  each  object  before,  and  two  after,  which, 
together  with  altitudes  for  time,  amount  to  2812  partial  observ^ations. 
But  that  is  not  the  whole  of  his  observations.  Some  of  them  intrusted 
to  an  Arab  have  not  been  received,  and  in  reference  to  those  trans- 
mitted he  says,  '  I  have  taken  others  which  I  do  not  think  it  necessary 
to  send,'  How  completely  all  this  stamps  the  impress  of  Livingstone 
on  the  interior  of  South  Africa !  .  .  .  I  say,  what  that  man  has 
done  is  unprecedented.  .  .  .  You  could  go  to  any  point  across  the 


2o6  DA  VID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  x. 

entire  continent,  along  Livingstone's  track,  and  feel  certain  of  your 
position."^ 

Following  this  unrivalled  eulogium  on  the  scientific 
powers  of  Livingstone,  came  the  testimony  of  Mr.  Thomp- 
son to  his  missionary  ardour  : — 

"  I  am  in  a  position  to  express  my  earnest  conviction,  formed  in 
long,  intimate,  unreserved  communications  with  him,  personally  and  by 
letter,  that  in  the  privations,  sufferings,  and  dangers  he  has  passed 
through,  during  tlie  last  eight  years,  he  has  not  been  actuated  by  mere 
curiosity,  or  the  love  of  adventure,  or  the  thirst  for  applause,  or  by  any 
other  object,  however  laudable  in  itself,  less  than  his  avowed  one  as  a 
messenger  of  Christian  love  from  the  Churches.  If  ever  there  was  a 
man  avIio,  by  realising  the  obligations  of  his  sacred  calling  as  a  Chris- 
tian missionary,  and  intelligently  comprehending  its  object,  sought  to 
pursue  it  to  a  successful  issue,  such  a  man  is  Dr.  Livingstone.  The 
spirit  in  which  he  engages  in  his  work  may  be  seen  in  the  following 
extract  from  one  of  his  letters  :  '  You  kindly  say  you  fear  for  the  result 
of  my  going  in  alone.  I  hope  I  am  in  the  way  of  duty ;  my  own  con- 
"V'iction  that  such  is  the  case  has  never  wavered.  I  am  doing  something 
for  God.  I  have  preached  the  gospel  in  many  a  spot  where  the  name 
of  Christ  has  never  been  heard,  and  I  would  wish  to  do  still  more  in  the 
Avay  of  reducing  the  Barotse  language,  if  I  had  not  suffered  so  severely 
from  fever.  Exhaustion  i)roduced  vertigo,  causing  me,  if  I  looked  sud- 
denly up,  ahnost  to  lose  consciousness;  this  made  me  give  up  sedentary 
work;  but  I  hope  God  will  accept  of  what  I  can  do.' " 

A  third  gentleman  at  this  m.eeting,  Mr.  Butherfoord, 
who  had  known  Livingstone  for  many  years,  besides 
describing  him  as  "  one  of  the  most  honourable, 
benevolent,  conscientious  men  I  ever  met  with,"  bore 
testimony  to  his  capacity  in  mercantile  affairs ;  not 
exercised  in  his  own  interest,  but  in  that  of  others.  It 
was  Mr.  E-utherfoord  who  when  Livingstone  was  at  the 
Cape  in  1852,  entered  into  his  plans  for  supplanting  the 

1  It  seems  unaccountable  that  in  the  face  of  such  unrivalled  testimonies,  re- 
flections should  continue  to  be  cast  on  Livingstone's  scientific  accuracy,  even  so  late 
as  the  meeting  of  the  British  Association  at  Sheffield  in  1879.  The  family  of  the 
late  Sir  Thomas  Maclear  have  sent  home  his  collection  of  Livingstone's  papers. 
They  fill  a  box  which  one  man  could  with  difficulty  carry.  And  their  mass  is  far 
from  their  most  striking  quality.  The  evidence  of  laborious,  painstaking  care  to 
be  accurate  is  almost  unprecedented.  Folio  volumes  of  pages  covered  with  figures 
show  how  much  time  and  labour  must  have  been  spent  in  these  computations. 
Explanatory  remarks  of  tea  indicate  the  particulara  of  the  observation. 


1856-57-]  FJJiST  VISIT  HOME.  207 

slave-trade  by  lawful  traffic,  and  at  his  suggestion  engaged 
George  Fleming  to  go  north  with  hiin  as  a  trader,  and 
try  the  experiment.  The  project  was  not  very  successful, 
ow-ing  to  innumerable  unforeseen  worries,  and  especially 
the  rascality  of  Fleming's  men.  Livingstone  iiound  it 
impossible  to  take  Fleming  to  the  coast,  and  had  there- 
fore to  send  him  back,  but  he  did  his  utmost  to  prevent 
loss  to  his  friend;  and  thus,  as  Mr.  Eutherfoord  said,  "at 
the  very  time  that  he  was  engaged  in  such  important 
duties,  and  exposed  to  such  difficulties,  he  found  time  to 
fulfil  his  promise  to  do  what  he  could  to  save  me  from 
loss,  to  attend  to  a  matter  quite  foreign  to  his  usual 
avocations,  and  in  which  he  had  no  personal  interest ; 
and  by  his  energy  and  good  sense,  and  self-denying- 
exertions,  to  render  the  plan,  if  not  perfectly  successful, 
yet  by  no  means  a  failure." 

Traveller,  geographer,  zoologist,  astronomer,  mis- 
sionary, physician,  and  mercantile  director,  did  ever  man 
sustain  so  many  characters  at  once  ?  Or  did  ever  man 
perform  the  duties  of  each  with  such  painstaking  accuracy 
and  so  great  success  ? 

As  soon  as  he  could  tear  himself  from  his  first  en- 
gagements, he  ran  down  to  Hamilton  to  see  his  mother, 
children,  and  other  relatives.  His  father's  empty  chair 
deeply  affected  him.  "  The  first  evening,"  writes  one 
of  his  sisters,  "he  asked  all  about  his  illness  and  death. 
One  of  us  remarking  that  after  he  knew  he  was  dying 
his  spirits  seemed  to  rise,  David  bui\st  into  tears.  At 
family  worship  that  evening  he  said  with  deep  feeling — 
'  We  bless  thee,  0  Lord,  for  our  parents ;  we  give  thee 
thanks  for  the  dead  who  has  died  in  the  Lord.'" 

At  first  Livingstone  thought  that  his  stay  in  this 
country  could  be  only  for  three  or  four  months,  as  he 
was  eager  to  be  at  Quilimane  before  the  unhealthy  season 
set  in,  and  thus  fulfil  his  promise  to  return  to  his  Mako- 
lolo  at  Tette.     But  on  receiving  an  assurance  from  the 


2o8  BA  VID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  x. 

Portuguese  Government  (which,  however,  was  never 
fulfilled  hy  them)  that  his  men  would  be  looked  after,  he 
made  up  his  mind  for  a  somewhat  longer  stay.  But  it 
could  not  be  called  rest.  As  soon  as  he  could  settle  down 
he  had  to  set  to  work  with  a  book.  So  lonof  before  as 
May  1856,  Sir  Koderick  Murchison  had  written  to  him 
that  "Mr.  John  Murray,  the  great  publisher,  is  most 
anxious  to  induce  you  to  put  together  all  your  data,  and 
to  make  a  good  book,"  adding  his  own  strong  advice 
to  comply  with  the  request.  If  he  ever  doubted  the 
propriety  of  writing  the  book,  the  doubt  must  have 
vanished,  not  only  in  view  of  the  unequalled  interest 
excited  by  the  subject,  but  also  of  the  readiness  of 
unprincipled  adventurers,  and  even  some  respectable 
publishers,  to  cumulate  narratives  often  mythical  and 
quite  unauthorised. 

The  early  part  of  the  year  1857  was  mainly  occupied 
with  the  labour  of  writing.  For  this  he  had  materials  in 
the  Journals  which  he  had  kept  so  carefully  ;  but  the 
business  of  selection  and  supplementing  was  laborious, 
and  the  task  of  arrangement  and  transcription  very 
irksome.  In  fact,  this  task  tried  the  patience  of 
Livingstone  more  than  any  which  he  had  yet  undertaken, 
and  he  used  to  say  that  he  would  rather  cross  Africa 
than  write  another  book.  His  experience  of  book-mak- 
ing increased  his  respect  for  authors  and  authoresses  a 
hundredfold ! 

We  are  not,  however,  inclined  to  think  that  this  trial 
was  due  to  the  cause  which  Livingstone  assigned, — his 
want  of  experience,  and  want  of  command  over  the 
English  tongue.  He  was  by  no  means  an  inexperienced 
writer.  He  had  written  large  volumes  of  Journals, 
memoirs  for  the  Geographical  Society,  articles  on  African 
Missions,  letters  for  the  Missionary  Society,  and  private 
letters  without  end,  each  usually  as  long  as  a  pamphlet. 
He  was  master  of  a  clear,  simple,  idiomatic  style,  well 


iS5(^-57]  FIRST  VISIT  HOME. 


209 


fitted  to  record  the  incidents  of  a  journey — sometimes 
poetical  in  its  vivid  pictures,  often  brightening  into 
humour,  and  sometimes  deepenmg  into  pathos.  Vie  win  o- 
it  page  by  page,  the  style  of  the  Missionary  Travels 
is  admu'able,  the  chief  defect  being  want  of  perspective  ; 
the  book  is  more  a  collection  of  pieces  than  an  organised 
whole  :  a  fault  inevitable,  perhaps,  in  some  measure,  from 
its  nature,  but  aggravated,  as  we  believe,  by  the  haste 
and  pressure  under  which  it  had  to  be  written.  In  his 
earher  private  letters,  Livingstone,  in  his  single-hearted 
desire  to  rouse  the  world  on  the  subject  of  Africa,  used 
to  regret  that  he  could  not  write  in  such  a  way  as  to 
command  general  attention  :  had  he  been  master  of  the 
flowing  periods  of  the  Edinhurgh  Review,  he  thought  he 
could  have  done  much  more  good.  In  point  of  fact,  if  he 
had  had  the  pen  of  Samuel  Johnson,  or  the  tongue  of 
Edmund  Burke,  he  would  not  have  made  the  impression  he 
did.  His  simple  style  and  plain  speech  were  eminently  in 
harmony  with  his  truthful,  unexaggerating  nature,  and 
showed  that  he  neither  wrote  nor  spoke  for  effect,  but 
simply  to  utter  truth.  What  made  his  work  of  composi- 
tion irksome  w^as,  on  the  one  hand,  the  fear  that  he  was 
not  doing  it  well,  and  on  the  other,  the  necessity  of  doing- 
it  quickly.  He  had  always  a  dread  that  his  English  was 
not  up  to  the  critical  mark,  and  yet  he  was  obliged  to 
hurry  on,  and  leave  the  English  as  it  dropped  from  his 
pen.  He  had  no  time  to  plan,  to  shape,  to  organise  ;  the 
architectural  talent  could  not  be  brought  into  play.  Add 
to  this  that  he  had  been  so  accustomed  to  open-air  life 
and  physical  exercise,  that  the  close  air  and  sedentary 
attitude  of  the  study  must  have  been  exceedingly  irk- 
some ;  so  that  it  is  hardly  less  wonderful  that  his  health 
stood  the  confinement  of  bookmaking  in  England,  than 
that  it  survived  the  tear  and  wear,  labour  and  sorrow,  of 
all  his  journeys  in  Africa. 

An  extract  from  a  letter  to  Mr.  Maclear,  on  the  eve 


2IO  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  x. 

of  his  beginning  his  book  {21st  January  1857)  will  show 
liow  his  thoupfhts  were  runninfr  : — 

"  I  begin  to-morrow  to  write  my  book,  and  as  I  have  a  large  party 
of  men  (110)  waiting  for  me  at  Tette,  and  I  promised  to  join  them  in 
April  next,  you  will  see  I  shall  have  enough  to  do  to  get  over  my 
Avork  here  before  the  end  of  the  month.  .  .  .  Many  thanks  for  all  the 
kind  things  you  said  at  the  Cape  Town  meeting.  Here  they  laud  me 
till  I  shut  my  eyes,  for  only  trying  to  do  my  duty.  They  ought  to 
vote  thanks  to  the  Boers  who  set  me  free  to  discover  the  fine  new 
countrJ^  They  were  determined  to  shut  the  country,  and  I  was 
determined  to  open  it.  They  boasted  to  the  Portuguese  that  they 
had  expelled  two  missionaries,  and  outwitted  themselves  rather.  I 
got  the  gold  medal,  as  you  predicted,  and  the  freedom  of  the  town  of 
Hamilton,  which  insures  me  protection  from  the  payment  of  jail  fees 
if  put  in  prison  !" 

In  writing  his  book,  he  sometimes  worked  in  the 
liouse  of  a  friend,  but  generally  in  a  London  or  suburban 
lodging,  often  with  his  children  about  him,  and  ail  their 
noise  ;  for,  as  in  the  Blantyre  mill,  he  could  abstract  his 
attention  from  sounds  of  whatever  kind,  and  go  on  calmly 
with  his  work.  Busy  though  he  was,  this  must  have 
been  one  of  the  happiest  times  in  his  life.  Some  of  his 
children  still  remember  his  walks  and  romjDS  with  them 
in  the  Barnet  woods,  near  which  they  lived  part  of  the 
time — how  he  would  suddenly  plunge  into  the  ferny 
thicket,  and  set  them  looking  for  him,  as  people  looked 
for  him  afterwards  when  he  disappeared  in  Africa,  coming- 
out  all  at  once  at  some  unexj^ected  corner  of  the  thicket. 
One  of  his  greatest  troubles  Avas  the  penny  post.  People 
used  to  ask  him  the  most  frivolous  questions.  At  first 
he  struggled  to  answer  tliern,  but  in  a  few  weeks  he  liad 
to  give  this  up  in  despair.  The  simplicity  of  .his  heart 
is  seen  in  the  childlike  joy  Avith  wiiich  he  welcomes  the 
early  products  of  the  spring.  He  writes  to  Mr.  Maclear 
that,  one  day  at  Professor  Owen's,  they  had  "  seen  daisies, 
primroses,  hawthorns,  and  robin-redbreasts.  Does  not 
Mrs.  Maclear  envy  us  ?     It  was  so  pleasant." 

But  a  better  idea  of  his  mode  of  life  at  home  will  be 


1856-57-]  FIRST  VISIT  HOME.  211 

conveyed  by  the  notes  of  some  of  the  friends  with  whom 
he  stayed.  For  that  purpose,  we  resume  the  recollections 
of  Dr.  Risdon  Bennett : — 

"  On  returning  to  England,  after  his  first  great  journey  of  discovery, 
he  and  Mrs.  Livingstone  stayed  in  my  house  for  some  time,  and  I  had 
frequent  conversations  with  liim  on  subjects  connected  with  his  African 
life,  especially  on  such  as  related  to  Natural  History  and  Medicine,  on 
which  he  had  gathered  a  fund  of  information.  His  observation  of 
malarious  diseases,  and  the  methods  of  treatment  adopted  by  both  the 
natives  and  Europeans,  had  led  him  to  form  very  definite  and  decided 
views,  especially  in  reference  to  the  use  of  purgatives,  preliminary  to, 
and  in  conjunction  with,  quinine  and  other  acknowdedged  febrifuge 
medicines.  He  had,  whilst  staying  with  me,  one  of  those  febrile 
attacks  to  which  persons  who  have  once  suffered  from  malarious 
disease  are  so  liable,  and  I  could  not  fail  to  remark  his  sensible  obser- 
vations thereon,  and  his  judicious  management  of  his  sickness.  He 
had  a  great  natural  predilection  for  medical  science,  and  always  took 
great  interest  in  all  that  related  to  the  profession.  I  endeavoured  to 
persuade  him  to  commit  to  writing  the  results  of  his  medical  observa- 
tions and  experience  among  the  natives  of  Africa,  but  he  was  too  much 
occupied  with  the  preparation  of  his  Journal  for  the  press  to  enable 
him  to  do  this.  Moreover,  as  Ee  often  said,  writing  was  a  great 
drudgery  to  him.  He,  however,  attended  with  me  the  meetings  of 
some  of  the  Medical  Societies,  and  gave  some  verbal  accounts  of  his 
medical  exj)erience  which  greatly  interested  his  audience.  His 
remarks  on  climates,  food,  and  customs  of  the  natives,  in  reference  to 
the  origin  and  spread  of  disease,  evinced  the  same  acuteness  of  obser- 
vation which  characterised  all  the  records  of  his  life.  He  specially 
commented  on  the  absence  of  consumption  and  all  forms  of  tubercular 
disease  among  the  natives,  and  .connected  this  with  their  constant 
exposure  and  out-of-door  life. 

"After  leaving  my  house  he  had  lodgings  in  Chelsea,  and  used 
frequently  to  come  and  spend  the  Sunday  afternoon  with  my  family, 
often  bringing  his  sister,  who  was  staying  with  him,  and  his  tAvo  elder 
children.  It  was  beautiful  to  observe  how  thoroughly  he  enjoyed 
domestic  life  and  the  society  of  children,  how  strong  was  his  attach- 
ment to  his  own  family  after  his  long  and  frequent  separations  from 
them,  and  how  entirely  he  had  retained  his  simplicity  of  character. 

"Like  so  many  of  his  countrymen,  he  had  a  keen  sense  of  humour, 
which  frequently  came  into  plaj^  when  relating  his  many  adventures 
and  hardships.  On  the  latter  he  never  dilated  in  the  way  of  complaint, 
and  he  had  little  sympathy  with,  or  respect  for,  those  travellers  who 
did  so.  Nor  was  he  apt  to  say  much  on  direct  religious  topics,  or  on 
the  results  of  his  missionary  efforts  as  a  Christian  teacher.  He  had 
unbounded    confidence   in  the    influence  of  Christian  character  and 


212  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chak  x. 

principles,  and  gave  many  illustrations  of  the  effect  produced  on  the 
minds  and  conduct  of  the  benighted  and  savage  tribes  with  whom  he 
was  brought  into  contact  by  his  own  unvarying  uprightness  of  conduct 
and  self-denying  labour.  The  fatherly  character  of  God,  His  never- 
failing  goodness  and  mercy,  and  the  infinite  love  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  and  efficacy  of  His  atoning  sacrifice,  appeared  to  be  the  topics 
on  which  he  loved  chiefly  to  dwell.  The  all-pervading  deadly  evils  of 
slavery,  and  the  atrocities  of  the  slave-trade,  never  failed  to  excite  his 
righteous  indignation.  If  ever  he  Avas  betrayed  into  unmeasured 
language,  it  was  when  referring  to  these  topics,  or  when  speaking  of 
the  injurious  influence  exerted  on  the  native  mind  by  the  cruel  and 
unprincipled  conduct  of  Avicked  and  selfish  traders.  His  love  for 
Africa,  and  confidence  in  the  steady  dawn  of  brighter  days  for  its 
oppressed  races,  were  unbounded." 

From  a  member  of  another  family,  that  of  Mr.  Fred- 
erick Fitch,  of  Highbury  New  Park,  with  whom  also  the 
Livingstones  spent  part  of  their  time,  we  have  some 
homely  but  graphic  reminiscences  : — 

"Dr.  Livingstone  Avas  very  simple  and  unpretending,  and  used 
to  be  annoyed  Avhen  he  Avas  made  a  lion  of.  Once  a  Avell-knoAvn 
gentleman,  Avho  Avas  advertised  to  deliver  a  lecture  next  day,  called  on 
him  to  pump  him  for  material.  The  Doctor  sat  rather  quiet,  and, 
AA'ithout  being  rude,  treated  the  gentleman  to  monosyllabic  ansAvers. 
He  could  do  that — could  keep  people  at  a  distance  Avhen  they  wanted 
to  make  capital  out  of  him.  When  the  stranger  had  left,  turning  to 
my  mother,  he  Avould  say,  *  I  '11  tell  you  anything  you  like  to  ask.' 

"  He  never  liked  to  Avalk  in  the  streets  for  fear  of  being  mobbed. 
Once  he  Avas  mobbed  in  Regent  Street,  and  did  not  knoAv  Iioav  he  AA\as 
to  escape,  till  he  saw  a  cab,  and  took  refuge  in  it.  For  the  same  reason 
it  AA'as  painful  for  him  to  go  to  church.  Once,  being  anxious  to  go 
with  us,  my  father  persuaded  him  that,  as  the  seat  at  the  top  of  our 
peAV  AA^as  under  the  gallery,  he  Avould  not  be  seen.  As  soon  as  he 
entered,  he  held  doAvn  his  head,  and  kept  it  covered  Avith  his  hands 
all  the  time,  but  the  preacher  somehow  caught  sight  of  him,  and 
rather  uuAvisely,  in  his  last  prayer,  adverted  to  him.  This  gave  the 
people  the  knoAvledge  that  he  Avas  in  the  chapel,  and  after  the  service 
they  came  trooping  towards  him,  even  over  the  peAvs,  in  their  anxiety 
to  see  him  and  shake  hands. ^ 

"Dr.  Livingstone  usually  conducted  our  family  AA-orship.  On 
Sunday  mornings  he  ahvays  gave  us  a  text  for  the  day.  His  prayers 
Ave  re  very  direct  and  simple,  just  like  a  child  asking  his  Father  for 
Avhat  he  needed. 

^  A  similar  occurrence  took  place  in  a  church  at  Bath  during  the  meetings  of 
the  British  Association  in  1864. 


1856-57-]  FIRST  VISIT  HOME.  213 

"He  was  alwjiys  careful  as  to  dress  and  appearance.  This  was 
his  habit  in  Africa  too,  and  with  Mrs,  Livingstone  it  was  the  same. 
They  thought  that  this  was  fitted  to  secure  respect  for  themselves,  and 
that  it  was  for  the  good  of  the  natives  too,  as  it  was  so  difficult  to 
impress  them  with  proper  ideas  on  the  subject  of  dress. 

"Dr.  and  Mrs.  Livingstone  were  much  attached,  and  thoroughly 
understood  each  other.  The  Doctor  was  sportive  and  fond  of  a  joke, 
and  Mrs.  Livingstone  entered  into  his  humour.  Mrs.  Livingstone  was 
terribly  anxious  about  her  husband  when  he  was  in  Africa,  but  before 
others  she  concealed  her  emotion.  In  society  both  were  reserved 
and  quiet.  Neither  of  them  cared  for  grandeur ;  it  was  a  great  trial 
to  Dr.  Livingstone  to  go  to  a  grand  dinner.  Yet  in  his  quiet  way  he 
Avould  exercise  an  influence  at  the  dinner-table.     He  told  us  that  once 

at  a  dinner  at  Lord 's,  every  one  was  running  down  London 

tradesmen.  Dr.  Livingstone  quietly  remarked  that  though  he  was  a 
stranger  in  London,  he  knew  one  tradesman  of  whose  honesty  he  was 
thoroughly  assured ;  and  if  there  was  one  such  in  his  little  circle, 
surely  there  must  be  many  more. 

"  He  used  to  rise  early :  about  seven  he  had  a  cup  of  tea  or  coffee, 
and  then  he  set  to  work  with  his  writing.  He  had  not  the  appearance 
of  a  very  strong  man." 

In  spite  of  liis  literary  work,  the  stream  of  public 
honours  and  public  engagements  began  to  flow  very 
strongly.  The  Prince  Consort  granted  him  an  inter- 
view, soon  after  his  arrival,  in  presence  of  some  of  the 
younger  members  of  the  Royal  Family.  In  March  it 
was  agreed  to  present  him  with  the  freedom  of  the  City 
of  London,  in  a  box  of  the  value  of  fifty  guineas,  and  in 
May  the  presentation  took  place.  Most  of  his  public 
honours,  however,  were  reserved  till  the  autumn. 

The  Missionary  Travels  was  published  in  November 

1857,  and  the  success  of  the  book  was  quite  remarkable. 

Writing  to  Mr.  Maclear,  10th  November  1857,  he  says, 

after  an  apology  for  delay  : — 

"  You  must  ascribe  my  culpable  silence  to  '  aberration.*  I  am  out 
of  my  orbit,  rather,  and  you  must  have  patience  till  I  come  in  again. 
The  book  is  out  to-day,  and  I  am  going  to  Captain  Washington  to  see 
about  copies  to  yourself,  the  Governor,  the  Bishop,  Fairbairn,  Thomp- 
son, Kutherfoord,  and  Saul  Solomon.^     Ten  thousand  were  taken  by 

1  Livingstone  was  quite  lavish  with  presentation  copies  ;  every  friend  on  earth 
seemed  to  be  inchided  in  his  Hst .  He  tried  to  remember  every  one  who  had  shown 
kindness  to  himself,  and  particularly  to  his  wife  and  children. 


214  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  x. 

the  Lomlon  trade  alone.  Tlurtecn  tliousand  eight  hundred  have  been 
ordered  from  an  edition  of  twelve  thousand,  so  the  printers  are  again 
at  work  to  supply  the  demand.  Sir  Roderick  gave  it  a  glowing 
character  last  night  at  the  Royal  Geographical  Societ}^  and  the 
Atlicnci'iim  has  come  out  strongly  on  the  same  side.  This  is  con- 
sidered a  successful  launch  for  a  guinea  book." 

It  has  sometimes  been  a  complaint  that  so  much  of 
the  book  is  occupied  with  matters  of  science,  geographical 
inquiries,  descriptions  of  plants  and  animals,  accounts  of 
ri^-ers  and  mountains,  and  so  little  with  what  directly 
concerns  the  work  of  the  missionary.  In  reply  to  this,  it 
may  be  stated,  in  the  first  place,  that  if  the  information 
given  and  the  views  expressed  on  missionary  topics  were 
all  put  together,  they  would  constitute  no  insigniiicant 
contribution  to  missionary  literature.  But  there  was 
another  consideration.  Livingstone  regarded  himself  as 
but  a  pioneer  in  missionary  enterprise.  During  sixteen 
years  he  had  done  much  to  bring  the  knowledge  of  Christ 
to  tribes  that  had  never  heard  of  Him — probably  no  mis- 
sionary in  Africa  had  ever  preached  to  so  many  blacks. 
In  some  instances  he  had  been  successful  in  the  highest 
sense — he  had  been  the  instrument  of  turning  men  from 
darkness  to  light ;  but  he  did  not  think  it  right  to  dwell 
on  these  cases,  because  the  converts  were  often  incon- 
sistent, and  did  not  exemplify  a  high  moral  tone.  In 
most  cases,  however,  he  had  been  a  sower  of  seed,  and 
not  a  reaper  of  harvests.  He  had  no  triumphs  to  record, 
like  those  which  had  gladdened  the  hearts  of  some  of  his 
missionary  brethren  in  the  South  Sea  Islands.  He  wished 
his  book  to  be  a  record  of  facts,  not  a  mere  register  of 
hopes.  The  missionary  vvork  was  yet  to  be  done.  It 
belonged  to  the  future,  not  to  the  past.  By  showing 
what  vast  fields  there  were  in  Africa  ripe  for  the  harvest, 
he  sought  to  stimulate  the  Christian  enterjDrise  of  the 
Churches,  and  lead  them  to  take  possession  of  Africa  for 
Christ.  He  would  diligently  record  facts  which  he  had 
ascertained  about  Africa,   facts   that  he  saw  had  some 


1856-57-]  FIRST  VISIT  HOME.  2 1 5 

bearing  on  Its  future  welfare,  but  whose  full  significance 
in  that  connection  no  one  might  yet  be  able  to  perceive. 
In  a  sense,  the  book  was  a  work  of  faith.  He  wished  to 
interest  men  of  science,  inen  of  commerce,  men  of  philan- 
thropy, ministers  of  the  Crown,  men  of  all  sorts,  in  the 
welfare  of  Africa.  Where  he  had  so  varied  a  constituency 
to  deal  with,  and  where  the  precise  method  by  which 
Africa  would  be  civilised  was  yet  so  mdefinite,  he  would 
faithfully  record  what  he  had  come  to  know,  and  let 
others  build  as  they  might  with  his  materials.  Certainly, 
in  all  that  Livingstone  has  written,  he  has  left  us  in  no 
doubt  as  to  the  consummation  to  which  he  ever  looked. 
His  whole  WT-itmgs  and  his  whole  life  are  a  commentary 
on  his  own  words — "  The  end  of  the  geographical  feat 
is  only  the  beginning  of  the  enterprise." 

Through  the  great  success  of  the  volume  and  the 
handsome  conduct  of  the  publisher,  the  book  yielded  him 
a  little  fortune.  We  shall  see  what  generous  use  he 
made  of  it — how  large  a  portion  of  the  profits  went  to 
forward  directly  the  great  object  to  which  his  heart  and 
his  hfe  were  so  cordially  given.  More  than  half  went  to 
a  single  object  connected  with  the  Zambesi  Expedition, 
and  of  the  remainder  he  was  ready  to  devote  a  half  to 
another  favourite  project.  All  that  he  thought  it  his 
duty  to  reserve  for  his  children  was  enough  to  educate 
them,  and  prepare  them  for  their  part  in  life.  Nothing 
would  have  seemed  less  desirable  or  less  for  their  good 
than  to  found  a  rich  fam'ily  to  live  in  idleness.  It  was 
and  is  a  common  impression  that  Livingstone  received 
larsfe  sums  from  friends  to  aid  him  in  his  work.  For  the 
most  part  these  impressions  were  unfounded  ;  but  his 
own  hard-earned  money  was  bestowed  freely  and  cheer- 
fully wherever  it  seemed  likely  to  do  good. 

The  complaint  that  he  was  not  sufficiently  a  mission- 
ary was  sometimes  made  of  his  sj^eeches  as  well  as  his 
book.     At  Carlisle,  a  lady  wrote  to  him  in  this  strain. 


2i6  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  x. 

A  copy  of  his  reply  is  before  us.  After  explaining  that 
reporters  were  more  ready  to  report  his  geography  than 
his  missionary  views,  he  says  : — 

"  Nowhere  have  I  ever  appeared  as  anything  else  but  a  servant  of 
God,  who  has  simply  followed  the  leadings  of  His  hand.  My  views  of 
what  is  missionarif  duty  are  not  so  contracted  as  those  whose  ideal  is  a 
dumpy  sort  of  man  with  a  Bible  under  his  arm.  I  have  laboured  in 
bricks  and  mortar,  at  the  forge  and  carpenter's  bench,  as  well  as  in 
preaching  and  medical  practice.  I  feel  that  I  am  '  not  my  own.'  I 
am  serving  Christ  when  shooting  a  buifalo  for  my  men,  or  taking  an 
astronomical  observation,  or  ^vl'iting  to  one  of  His  children  who  forget, 
during  the  little  moment  of  penning  a  note,  that  charity  which  is 
eulogised  as  'thinking  no  evil;'  and  after  having  by  His  help  got 
information,  Avhich  I  hope  Avill  lead  to  more  abundant  blessing  being 
bestowed  on  Africa  than  heretofore,  am  I  to  hide  the  light  under  a 
bushel,  merely  because  some  will  consider  it  not  sufficiently,  or  even 
at  all,  missionary  ?  Knowing  that  some  persons  do  believe  that  open- 
ing up  a  new  country  to  the  sympathies  of  Christendom  was  not  a 
proper  work  for  an  agent  of  a  Missionary  Society  to  engage  in,  I  now 
refrain  from  taking  any  salary  from  the  Society  with  which  I  Avas 
connected ;  so  no  pecuniary  loss  is  sustained  by  any  one." 

Subsequently,  when  detained  in  Manyuema,  and  when 
his  immediate  object  was  to  determine  the  watershed, 
Dr.  Livingstone  wrote  : — "  I  never  felt  a  single  pang  at 
having  left  the  Missionary  Society.  I  acted  for  my 
Master,  and  beheve  that  all  ought  to  devote  their  special 
faculties  to  Him.  I  regretted  that  unconscientious  men 
took  occasion  to  prevent  many  from  sympathising  with 
me." 


1S57-5S.]  FIRST  VISIT  HOME.  217 


CHAPTEE   XL 

FIRST  VISIT  HOME — continued. 
A.D.  1857-1858. 

Livingf5tone  at  Dublin,  at  British  Association — Letter  to  his  "vdfe — He  meets  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce  at  Manchester — At  Glasgow,  receives  honours  from 
Corporation,  Universitj'',  Faculty  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  United  Pres- 
byterians, Cotton-spinners — His  speeches  in  reply — His  brother  Charles 
joins  him — Interesting  meeting  and  speech  at  Hamilton — Reception  from 
"Literary  and  Scientific  Institute  of  Blantyre" — Sympathy  with  operatives 
— Quick  apprehension  of  all  public  questions — His  social  views  in  advance  of 
the  age — He  plans  a  People's  Cafe — Visit  to  Edinburgh— More  honoui's— 
Letter  to  Mr.  Maclear — Interesting  visit  to  Cambridge — Lectures  there- 
Professor  Sedgwick's  remarks  on  his  visit — Livingstone's  great  satisfaction — 
Relations  to  London  Missionary  Society — He  severs  his  connection — Proposal 
of  Government  expedition — He  accepts  consulship  and  command  of  expedition 
— Kindness  of  Lords  Palmerston  and  Clarendon — The  Portuguese  Ambassador 
— Livingstone  proposes  to  go  to  Portugal — Is  dissuaded — Lord  Clarendon's 
letter  to  Sekeletu — Results  of  Livingstone's  visit  to  England — Farewell 
banquet,  Feb.  1858 — Interview  with  the  Queen — Valedictory  letters — Pro- 
fessor Sedgwick  and  Sir  Roderick  Murchison — Arrangements  for  expedition 
— Dr.,  Mrs.,  and  Oswell  Livingstone  set  sail  from  Liverpool — Letters  to 
children. 

Finding  himself,  in  the  autumn,  free  of  the  toil  of  book- 
making,  Dr.  Livingstone  moved  more  freely  through  the 
country,  attended  meetings,  and  gave  addi-esses.  In 
August  he  went  to  Dublin,  to  the  meeting  of  the  British 
Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science,  and  gave  an 
interesting  lecture.  Mrs.  Livingstone  did  not  accompany 
him.  In  a  letter  to  her  we  have  some  pleasant  notes  of 
his  Dublin  visit  : — 

''Duhlin,  29//i  August  1857. — I  am  very  sorry  now  that  I  did  not 
bring  you  with  me,  for  all  inquire  after  you,  and  father's  book  is  better 
known  here  than  anywhere  else  I  have  been.  But  it  could  scarcely 
have  been  otherwise.     I  think  the  visit  to  Dublin  will  be  beneficial  to 


2i8  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xi. 

our  cause,  whicli,  I  think,  is  the  cause  of  Christ  in  Africa.  Lord 
Eadstock  is  much  interested  in  it,  and  seems  willing  and  anxious  to 
jiromote  it.  He  was  converted  out  at  the  Crimea,  whither  he  had 
gone  as  an  amateur.  His  lady  is  a  beautiful  woman,  and  I  think, 
what  is  far  better,  a  good,  pious  one.  The  Archbishop's  daughters 
asked  me  if  they  could  be  of  any  use  in  sending  out  needles,  thread, 
etc.,  to  your  school.  I,  of  course,  said  Yes.  His  daughters  are  de- 
votedly missionary,  and  work  hard  in  ragged  schools,  etc.  One  of 
them  nearly  remained  in  Jerusalem  as  a  missionary,  and  is  the  same 
in  spirit  here.  It  is  well  to  be  servants  of  Christ  everywhere,  at  home 
or  abroad,  Avherever  He  may  send  us  or  take  us.  ...  I  hope  I  may 
be  enabled  to  say  a  word  for  Him  on  Monday.  There  is  to  be  a  grand 
dinner  and  soiree  at  the  Lord-Lieutenant's  on  Monday,  and  I  have  got 
an  invitation  in  my  pocket,  but  will  have  to  meet  Admiral  Trotter  on 
Tuesday.  I  go  off  as  soon  as  my  lecture  is  over.  .  .  .  Sir  Duncan 
Macgrcgor  is  the  author  of  The  Burning  of  the  Kent  East  Indiaman. 
His  son,  the  only  infant  saved,  is  now  a  devoted  Christian,  a  barrister."^ 

In  September  we  find  liim  in  Manchester,  where  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce  gave  him  a  hearty  welcome,  and 
entered  cordially  into  his  schemes  for  the  commercial 
development  of  Africa.  He  was  subjected  to  a  close 
cross-examination  regarding  the  products  of  the  country, 
and  the  materials  it  contained  for  commerce  ;  but  here, 
too,  the  missionary  was  equal  to  the  occasion.  He  had 
brought  home  five  or  six  and  twenty  different  kinds  of 
fruit ;  he  told  them  of  oils  they  had  never  heard  of — dyes 
that  were  kept  secret  by  the  natives — fibres  that  might 
be  used  for  the  manufacture  of  paper — sheep  that  had 
hair  instead  of  wool — honey,  sugar-cane,  wheat,  millet, 
cotton,  and  iron,  all  abounding  in  the  country.  That  all 
these  should  abound  in  what  used  to  be  deemed  a  sandy 
desert  appeared  very  strange.  A  very  cordial  resolution 
was  unanimously  agreed  to,  and  a  strong  desire  expressed 

^  Br.  Livingstone  always  liked  that  style  of  earnest  Christianity  which  he 
notices  in  this  letter.  In  Xovember  of  the  same  year,  after  he  had  resigned  his 
connection  with  the  London  Missionary  Society,  and  was  preparing  to  return  to 
Africa  as  H.  M.  Consul  and  head  of  the  Zambesi  Expedition,  he  writes  thus  to 
his  friend  Mr.  James  Young  : — "I  read  the  life  of  Hedley  Vicars  for  the  first 
time  through,  when  down  at  Rugbj'.  It  is  really  excellent,  and  makes  me 
ashamed  of  the  coldness  of  my  services  in  comparison.  That  was  his  sister  you 
saw  me  walking  with  in  Dublin  at  the  Gardens  (Lady  Rayleigh).  If  you  have  not 
read  it,  the  sooner  you  dip  into  it  the  better.     You  will  thank  me  for  it." 


1857-58]  FIJ^ST  VISIT  HOME.  2 1 9 

that  Her  Majesty's  Government  would  unite  with  that  of 
Portugal  in  giving  Dr.  Livingstone  facilities  for  further 
exploration  in  the  interior  of  Africa,  and  especially  in  the 
district  around  the  river  Zambesi  and  its  tributaries, 
which  promised  to  be  the  most  suitable  as  a  basis  both 
for  commercial  and  missionary  settlements. 

In  the  course  of  the  same  month  his  foot  was  again  on 
his  native  soil,  and  there  his  reception  was  remarkably 
cordial.  In  Glasgow,  the  University,  the  Corporation, 
the  Faculty  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  the  United 
Presbyterians,  and  the  Associated  Operative  Cotton- 
spinners  of  Scotland  came  forward  to  pay  him  honour. 
A  testimonial  of  £2000  had  been  raised  by  public  sub- 
scription. The  Corporation  presented  him  with  the 
freedom  of  the  city  in  a  gold  box,  in  acknowledging 
which  he  naturally  dwelt  on  some  of  the  topics  that  were 
interesting  to  a  commercial  community.  He  gave  a 
somewhat  new  view  of  "Protection"  when  he  called 
it  a  remnant  of  heathenism.  The  heathen  would  be 
dependent  on  no  one ;  they  would  depress  all  other 
communities.  Christianity  taught  us  to  be  friends  and 
brothers,  and  he  was  glad  that  aU  restrictions  on  the 
freedom  of  trade  were  now  done  away  with.  He  dwelt 
largely  on  the  capacity  of  Africa  to  furnish  us  with 
useful  articles  of  trade,  and  especially  cotton. 

His  reception  by  the  Faculty  of  Physicians  and 
Surgeons  had  a  special  interest  in  relation  to  his  mediisal 
labours.  For  nearly  twenty  years  he  had  been  a  licentiate 
of  this  Faculty,  one  of  the  oldest  medical  institutions  of 
the  country,  which  for  two  centuries  and  a  half  had 
exerted  a  great  influence  in  the  west  of  Scotland.  He 
was  no\v  admitted  an  honorary  Fellow — an  honour  rarely 
conferred,  and  only  on  pre-eminently  distinguished  men. 
The  President  referred  to  the  benefit  which  he  had  found 
from  his  scientific  as  well  as  his  more  strictly  medical 
studies,  pursued  under   theii"  auspices,  and  Livingstone 


2  20  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xi. 

cordially  eclioed  tlie  remark,  saying  he  often  hoped  that 
his  sons  might  follow  the  same  course  of  study  and  devote 
themselves  to  the  same  noble  profession  : — 

"  In  the  country  to  which  I  went,"  he  continued,  "  I  endeavoured 
to  follow  the  footsteps  of  my  Lord  and  Master.  Our  Saviour  was  a 
physician  ;  but  it  is  not  to  be  expected  that  His  followers  should 
perform  miracles.  The  nearest  approach  which  they  could  expect 
to  make  was  to  become  acquainted  Avith  medical  science,  and  endeavour 
to  heal  the  diseases  of  man.  .  .  .  One  patient  expressed  his  ojDinion 
of  my  religion  to  the  following  effect  :  '  We  like  you  very  much ;  you 
are  the  only  white  man  we  have  got  acquainted  with.  We  like  you 
because  you  aid  us  whilst  we  are  sick,  but  we  don't  like  your  ever- 
lasting preaching  and  praying.     We  can't  get  accustomed  to  that !'  " 

To  the  United  Presbyterians  of  Glasgow  he  spoke  of 
mission  work  in  Africa.  At  one  time  he  had  been  some- 
what disappointed  with  the  Bechuana  Christians,  and 
thought  the  results  of  the  mission  had  been  exaggerated, 
but  when  he  went  into  the  interior  and  saw  heathenism 
in  all  its  unmitigated  ferocity,  he  changed  his  opinion, 
and  had  a  higher  opinion  than  ever  of  what  the  mission 
had  done.  Such  gatherings  as  the  present  were  very 
encouraging  ;  but  in  Africa  mission  work  was  hard  work 
without  excitement ;  and  they  had  just  to  resolve  to  do 
their  duty  without  expecting  to  receive  gratitude  from 
those  whom  they  laboured  to  serve.  When  gratitude 
came,  they  were  thankful  to  have  it ;  but  when  it  did  not 
come  they  must  go  on  doing  their  duty,  as  unto  the  Lord. 
*  His  reply  to  the  cotton-spinners  is  interesting  as 
showing  how  fresh  his  sympathy  still  was  with  the  sons 
of  toil,  and  what  respect  he  had  for  their  position.  He 
congratulated  himself  on  the  Spartan  training  he  had  got 
at  the  Blantyre  mill,  which  had  really  been  the  foundation 
of  all  the  work  he  had  done.  Poverty  and  hard  work 
were  often  looked  down  on, — he  did  not  know  why, — for 
wickedness  was  the  only  thing  that  ought  to  be  a 
reproach  to  any  man.  Those  that  looked  down  on  cotton- 
spinners  with  contempt  were  men  who,  had  they  been 


1857-58-]  FIRST  VISIT  HOME.  221 

cotton-spinners  at  the  beginning,  would  have  been  cotton- 
spinners  to  the  end.  The  Hfe  of  toil  was  what  belonged 
to  the  great  majority  of  the  race,  and  to  be  poor  was  no 
reproach.  The  Saviour  occupied  the  humble  position 
that  they  had  been  born  in,  and  he  looked  back  on  his 
own  past  life  as  having  been  spent  in  the  same  position 
in  which  the  Saviour  Hved. 

"  My  great  object,"  he  said,  "  was  to  be  like  Him — to  imitate  Him 
as  far  as  He  could  be  imitated.  We  have  not  the  power  of  working 
miracles,  but  we  can  do  a  little  in  the  way  of  healing  the  sick,  and  I 
sought  a  medical  education  in  order  that  I  might  be  like  Him.  In 
Africa  I  have  had  hard  work.  I  don't  know  that  any  one  in  Africa 
desjiises  a  man  who  works  hard.  I  find  that  all  eminent  men 
work  hard.  Eminent  geologists,  mineralogists,  men  of  science  in 
every  department,  if  they  attain  eminence,  work  hard,  and  that  both 
early  and  late.  That  is  just  what  we  did.  Some  of  us  have  left  the 
cotton-spinning,  but  I  think  thajb  all  of  us  who  have  been  engaged  in 
that  occupation  look  back  on  it  with  feelings  of  complacency,  and  feel 
an  interest  in  the  course  of  our  companions.  There  is  one  thing  iu 
cotton-spinning  that  I  always  felt  to  be  a  privilege.  AVe  were 
confined  through  the  Avhole  day,  but  when  we  got  out  to  the  green 
fields,  and  could  wander  through  the  shady  Avoods,  and  rove  about  the 
whole  country,  we  enjoyed  it  immensely.  We  were  delighted  to  see 
the  flowers  and  the  beautiful  scenery.  We  were  prepared  to  admire. 
We  were  taught  by  our  confinement  to  rejoice  in  the  beauties  of 
nature,  and  when  we  got  out  we  enjoyed  ourselves  to  the  fullest 
extent." 

At  Hamilton  an  interesting  meeting  took  place  in  the 
Congregational  Chapel  where  he  had  been  a  worshipper 
in  his  youth.  Here  he  was  emphatically  at  home ;  and 
he  took  the  opportunity  (as  he  often  did)  to  say  how 
little  he  liked  the  lionising  he  was  undergoing,  and  how 
unexpected  all  the  honours  were  that  had  been  showered 
upon  him.  He  had  hoped  to  spend  a  short  and  quiet 
visit,  and  then  return  to  his  African  work.  It  was  his 
sense  of  the  kindness  shown  him,  and  the  desire  not  to 
be  disobliging,  that  made  him  accept  the  public  mvitations 
he  was  receiving.  But  he  did  not  wish  to  take  the 
honour  to  hunself,  as  if  he  had  achieved  anything  by  his 
own  might  or  wisdom,     He  thanked  God  sincerely  for 


22  2  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xi. 

employing  him  as  an  instrument  in  His  work.  One  of 
the  greatest  honours  was  to  be  employed  in  winning  souls 
to  Christ,  and  proclaiming  to  the  captives  of  Satan  the 
liberty  with  which  he  had  come  to  make  them  free.  He 
was  thankful  that  to  him,  "  the  least  of  all  saints,"  this 
honour  had  been  given.  He  then  proceeded  to  notice  the 
presence  of  members  of  various  Churches,  and  to  advert 
to  the  broadening  process  that  had  been  gomg  on  in  his 
own  mind  while  ,in  Africa,  which  made  him  feel  himself 
more  than  ever  the  brother  of  all : — 

"  In  going  tibout  we  learn  soraetliing,  and  it  would  be  a  shame  to 
us  if  we  did  not ;  and  we  look  back  to  our  own  country  and  view  it 
as  a  whole,  and  many  of  the  little  feelings  Ave  had  when  immersed  in 
our  own  denominations  we  lose,  and  we  look  to  the  whole  body  of 
Christians  with  affection.  We  rejoice  to  see  them  advancing.  I  be- 
lieve that  every  Scotch  Christian  abroad  rejoiced  in  his  heart  when  he 
saw  the  Free  Church  come  boldly  out  on  principle,  and  I  may  say  we 
shall  rejoice  very  much  when  we  see  the  Free  Church  and  the  United 
Presbyterian  Church  one,  as  they  ought  to  be.  ...  I  am  sure  I  look 
on  all  the  different  denominations  in  Hamilton  and  in  Britain  with 
feelings  of  affection.  I  cannot  say  which  I  love  most.  I  am  quite 
certain  I  ought  not  to  dislike  any  of  them.  Really,  perhaps  I  may 
be  considered  a  little  heterodox ,  if  I  were  living  in  this  part  of  the 
country  I  could  not  pass  one  Evangelical  Church  in  order  to  go  to  my 
own  denomination  beyond  it.^  I  still  think  that  the  different  denomi- 
national peculiarities  have,  to  a  certain  degree,  a  good  effect  in  this 
country,  but  I  think  we  ought  to  be  much  more  careful  lest  Ave  should 
appear  to  our  fellow-Christians  unchristian,  than  to  appear  inconsistent 
Avith  the  denominational  principles  Ave  profess.  .  .  .  Let  this  meeting 
be  the  ratification  of  the  bond  of  union  betAveen  my  brother  ^  and  me, 
and  all  the  denominations  of  Hamilton.  Eemember  us  in  your  prayers. 
Bear  us  on  your  spirits  Avhen  Ave  are  far  away,  for  Avhen  abroad  we 
often  feel  as  if  Ave  Avere  forgot  by  every  one.  My  entreaty  to  all  the 
Christians  of  Hamilton  is  to  pray  that  grace  may  be  given  to  us  to  be 
faithful  to  our  Saviour  even  unto  death." 

''  Dr.  Livingstone  gave  practical  evidence  of  his  sincerity  in  these  remarks  in 
the  case  of  his  elder  daughter,  saying,  in  reply  to  one  of  her  guardians  with  whom 
she  was  residing,  that  he  had  no  objections  to  her  joining  the  Church  of  Scotland. 
This  however  she  did  not  do  ;  but  afterwards,  when  at  Newstead  Abbey,  she  was 
confirmed  by  the  Bishop  of  Lincoln,  and  received  the  Communion  along  with  her 
father,  who  helped  to  prepare  her. 

-  Dr.  Livingstone  had  been  joined  by  his  brother  Charles,  who  was  present  on 
this  occasion. 


1857-58-]  FIRST  VISIT  HOME.  '     223 

At  Blantyre,  his  native  village,  the  Literary  and 
Scientific  Institute  gave  him  a  reception,  Mr.  Hannan, 
one  of  the  proprietors  of  the  works,  a  magistrate  of 
Glasgow,  and  an  old  acquaintance  of  Livingstone's,  being 
in  the  chair.  The  Doctor  was  labouring  under  a  cold,  the 
first  he  had  had  for  sixteen  years.  He  talked  to  them  of 
his  travels,  and  by  particular  request  gave  an  account  of 
his  encounter  with  the  Mabotsa  lion.  He  ridiculed  Mrs. 
Beecher  Stowe's  notion  that  factory-workers  were  slaves. 
He  counselled  them  strongly  to  put  more  confidence  than 
workmen  generally  did  in  the  honest  good  intentions  of 
their  employers,  reminding  them  that  some  time  ago, 
when  the  Blantyre  proprietors  had  wished  to  let  every 
workman  have  a  garden,  it  was  said  by  some  that  they 
only  wished  to  bring  the  ground  into  good  order,  and  then 
they  would  take  the  garden  away.  That  was  nasty  and 
suspicious.  If  masters  were  more  trusted  they  would  do 
more  good.  Finally,  he  exhorted  them  cordially  to  accept 
God's  offers  of  mercy  to  them  in  Christ,  and  give  them- 
selves wholly  to  Him.  To  bow  down  before  God  was 
not  mean  ;  it  was  manly.  His  one  wish  for  them  all 
was  that  they  might  have  peace  with  God,  and  rejoice 
in  the  hope  of  the  eternal  inheritance. 

His  remarks  to  the  operatives  show  how  sound  and 
sagacious  his  views  were  on  social  problems ;  in  this 
sphere,  indeed,  he  was  in  advance  of  the  age.  The  quick- 
ness and  correctness  with  which  he  took  up  matters  of 
public  interest  in  Britain,  mastered  facts,  and  came  to 
clear  intelligent  conclusions  on  them,  was  often  the  as- 
tonishment of  his  friends.  It  was  as  if,  instead  of  beinar 
buried  in  Africa,  he  had  been  attending  the  club  and 
reading  the  daily  newspapers  for  years, — this,  too,  while 
he  was  at  work  writing  his  book,  and  delivering  speeches 
almost  without  end.  We  find  him  at  this  time  antici- 
pating the  temperance  cofiee-house  movement,  now  so 
popular  and  successful.     On  11th  July  1857  he  wrote 


2  24     "  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xi. 

on  this  subject  to  a  friend,  in  reference  to  a  proposal  to 
deliver  a  lecture  in  Glasgow.  It  should  be  noticed  that 
he  never  lectured  for  money,  though  he  might  have 
done  so  with  great  pecuniary  benefit : — 

"  I  am  thinking  of  giving  or  trying  to  give  a  lecture  by  invitation 
at  the  Athenaeum.  I  am  offered  thirty  guineas,  and  as  my  old  friends 
the  cotton-spinners  have  invited  me  to  meet  them,  I  think  of  handing 
the  sum,  whatever  it  may  be,  to  them,  or  rather  letting  them  take  it  and 
lit  up  a  room  as  a  coffee-room  on  the  plan  of  the  French  cafes,  where 
men,  women,  and  children  may  go,  instead  of  to  whisky-shops. 
There  are  coffee-houses  already,  but  I  don't  think  there  are  any  where 
they  can  laugh  and  talk  and  read  papers  just  as  they  please.  The 
sort  I  contemplate  would  suit  poor  young  fellows  who  cannot  hav^e  a 
comfortable  fire  at  home.  I  have  seen  men  dragged  into  drinking 
ways  from  having  no  comfort  at  home,  and  women  also  drawn  to 
the  dram-shop  from  the  same  cause.  Don't  you  think  something 
could  be  done  by  setting  the  persons  I  mention  to  do  something  for 
themselves  % " 

Edinburgh  conferred  on  Livingstone  the  freedom  of 
the  city,  besides  entertaining  him  at  a  public  breakfast 
and  hearing  him  at  another  meeting.  We  are  not  sur- 
prised to  find  him  writing  to  Sir  Roderick  Murchison 
from  Kossie  Priory,  on  the  27th  September,  that  he  was 
about  to  proceed  to  Leeds,  Liverpool,  and  Birmingham, 
"and  then  farewell  to  pubhc  spouting  for  ever.  I  am 
dead  tired  of  it.  The  third  meeting  at  Edinburgh  quite 
knocked  me  up."  It  was  generally  believed  that  his 
appearances  at  Edinburgh  were  not  equal  to  some  others  ; 
and  probably  there  was  truth  in  the  impression,  for  he 
must  have  come  to  it  exhausted ;  and  besides,  at  a  pubhc 
breakfast,  he  was  put  out  by  a  proposal  of  the  chau'man, 
that  they  should  try  to  get  him  a  pension.  Yet  some 
who  heard  liim  in  Edinburgh  received  impressions  that 
were  never  effaced,  and  it  is  probable  that  seed  was 
silently  sown  which  led  afterwards  to  the  Scotch  Livuig- 
stonia  Mission — one  of  the  most  hopeful  schemes  for  carry- 
ing out  Livingstone's  plans  that  have  yet  been  organised. 

Among  the  other  honours  conferred  on  him  dm'ing 


1857-58-]  FIRST  VISI2  HOME,  225 

this  visit  to  Britain  was  the  degree  of  D.C.L,  from  the 
University  of  Oxford.  Some  time  before,  Glasgow  had 
given  him  the  honorary  degree  of  LL.D.  In  the  be- 
gining  of  1858,  when  he  was  proposed  as  a  Fellow  of  the 
Royal  Society,  the  certificate  on  his  behalf  was  signed, 
among  others,  by  the  Earl  of  Carlisle,  then  Lord-Lieu- 
tenant of  Ireland,  who  after  his  signature  added  P.K. 
{j)ro  Regina),  a  thing  that  had  never  been  done  before.^ 

The  life  he  was  now  leading  was  rather  trying.  He 
writes  to  his  friend  Mr.  Maclear  on  the  10th  November  : — 

"  I  finish  niy  public  spouting  next  week  at  Oxford.  It  is  really 
very  time-killing  tliis  lionising,  and  I  am  sure  you  pity  me  in  it.  I 
hope  to  leave  in  January.  Wonder  if  the  Portuguese  have  fulfilled 
the  intention  of  their  Government  in  supporting  my  men.  ...  I  shall 
rejoice  Avhen  I  see  you  again  in  the  quiet  of  the  Observatory.  It  is 
more  satisfactory  to  serve  God  in  peace.  ^lay  He  give  His  grace  and 
blessing  to  us  all  !  I  am  rather  anxious  to  say  something  that  will 
benefit  the  young  men  at  Oxford.  They  made  me  a  D.C.L.  There  !  ! 
Wonder  if  they  would  do  so  to  the  Editor  of  the  Gmlmmstown 
Journal .?" 

Livingstone' was  not  yet  clone  with  "  public  spouting," 
even  after  his  trip  to  Oxford.  Among  the  visits  paid  by 
him  towards  the  end  of  1857,  none  was  more  interesting 
or  led  to  more  important  results  than  that  to  Cambridge. 
It  was  on  3d  December  he  arrived  there,  becoming  the 
ofuest  of  the  Rev.  Wm.  Monk  of  St.  John's.  Next  morn- 
ing  in  the  senate-house,  he  addressed  a  very  large  audience, 
consisting  of  graduates  and  undergraduates  and  many 
visitors  from  the  town  and  neio-hbourhood.  The  Vice- 
Chancellor  presided  and  introduced  the  stranger.  Dr. 
Livino'stone's  lecture  consisted  of  facts  relatino-  to  the 
country  and  its  j^eople,  their  habits  and  religious  belief, 
Avith  some  notices  of  his  travels,  and  an  emphatic  state- 
ment of  his  great  object — to  promote  commerce  and  Chris- 
tianity in  the  country  w^hich  he  had  opened.  The  last 
part  of  his  lecture  was  an  earnest  appeal  for  missionaries. 

1  For  list  of  Dr.  Livingstone's  honours,  see  Appendix  No.  V.,  p.  4S7. 

P 


226  DA  VI D  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xi. 

"  It  is  deplorable  to  think  that  one  of  the  noblest  of  our  missionary- 
societies,  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  is  compelled  to  send  to 
Germany  for  missionaries,  whilst  other  Societies  are  amply  supplied. 
Let  this  stain  be  wiped  off.  The  sort  of  men  who  are  wanted  for 
missionaries  are  such  as  I  see  before  me  :  men  of  education,  standing, 
enterprise,  zeal,  and  piety.  ...  I  hope  that  many  Avhom  I  now  address 
will  embrace  that  honourable  career.  Education  has  been  given  us 
from  above  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  to  the  benighted  the  knowledge 
of  a  Saviour.  If  you  knew  the  satisfaction  of  performing  such  a  duty, 
as  well  as  the  gratitude  to  God  which  the  missionary  must  always  feel, 
in  being  chosen  for  so  noble,  so  sacred  a  calling,  you  would  have  no 
hesitation  in  embracing  it. 

"  For  my  own  part,  I  have  never  ceased  to  rejoice  that  God  has 
appointed  me  to  such  an  office.  People  talk  of  the  sacrifice  I  have 
made  in  spending  so  much  of  my  life  in  Africa.  Can  that  be  called 
a  sacrifice  which  is  simply  paid  back  as  a  small  part  of  a  great  debt 
owing  to  our  God,  Avhicli  we  can  never  repay  %  Is  that  a  sacrifice 
which  brings  its  own  blest  reward  in  healthful  activity,  the  cpnscious- 
ness  of  doing  good,  peace  of  mind,  and  a  bright  hope  of  a  glorious 
destiny  hereafter  ?  Away  with  the  Avord  in  such  a  view,  and  with 
such  a  thought !  It  is  emphatically  no  sacrifice.  Say  rather  it  is  a 
privilege.  Anxiety,  sickness,  suffering,  or  danger,  now  and  then, 
with  a  foregoing  of  the  common  conveniences  and  charities  of  this  life, 
may  make  us  pause,  and  cause  the  spirit  to  waver,  and  the  soul  to  sink ; 
but  let  this  only  be  for  a  moment.  All  these  are  nothing  when  com- 
pared with  the  glory  which  shall  hereafter  be  revealed  in,  and  for,  us. 
I  never  made  a  sacrifice.  Of  this  we  ought  not  to  talk,  when  we  re- 
member the  great  sacrifice  which  He  made  who  left  His  Father's  throne 
on  high  to  give  Himself  for  us ;  '  who  being  the  brightness  of  that 
Father's  glory,  and  the  express  image  of  his  person,  and  upholding 
all  things  by  the  Avord  of  his  power,  when  he  had  by  himself  purged 
our  sins,  sat  down  on  the  right  hand  of  the  Majesty  on  high.'  .  .  . 

"  I  beg  to  direct  your  attention  to  Africa  :  I  know  that  in  a  few 
years  I  shall  be  cut  oflf  in  that  country,  which  is  now  open ;  do  not  let 
it  be  shut  again  !  I  go  back  to  Africa  to  try  to  make  an  open  path  for 
commerce  and  Christianity ;  do  you  carry  out  the  Avork  Avhich  I  have 
begun.     I  LEAVE  it  with  you  !" 

In  a  prefatory  letter  prefixed  to  the  volume  entitled 
Dr.  Livingstone  s  Cambridge  Lectures,  the  late  Professor 
Sedgwick  remarked,  in  connection  w4th  this  event, 
that  in  the  course  of  a  long  academic  life  he  had  often 
been  present  in  the  senate-house  on  exciting  occasions ; 
in  the  days  of  Napoleon  he  had  heard  the  gTeetings 
given  to  our  great  military  heroes  ;  he  had  been  present 


1857-58.]  FIRST  VISIT  HOME.  227 

at  four  installation  services,  the  last  of  which  was  graced 
by  the  presence  of  the  Queen,  when  her  youthful  husband 
was  installed  as  Chancellor,  amid  the  most  fervent  gratu- 
lations  that  subjects  are  permitted  to  exhibit  in  the 
presence  of  their  Sovereign.  But  on  none  of  these 
occasions  "were  the  gratulations  of  the  University  more 
honest  and  true-hearted  than  those  which  were  offered 
to  Dr.  Livingstone.  He  came  among  us  without  any 
long  notes  of  preparation,  without  any  pageant  or 
eloquence  to  charm  and  captivate  our  senses.  He  stood  y 
before  us,  a  plain,  single-minded  man,  somewhat  atten- 
uated by  years  of  toil,  and  with  a  face  tinged  by  the 
sun  of  Africa.  .  .  .  While  Me  listened  to  the  tale  he  had 
to  tell,  there  arose  in  the  hearts  of  all  the  listeners  a 
fervent  hope  that  the  hand  of  God  which  had  so  long 
upheld  him  would  uphold  him  still,  and  help  him  to 
carry  out  the  great  work  of  Christian  love  that  was 
still  before  him." 

Next  day,  December  5th,  Dr.  Livingstone  addressed 
a  very  crowded  audience  in  the  Town  Hall,  the  Mayor 
presiding.     Referring  to  his  own  plans  he  said — 

"  I  contend  that  Ave  ought  not  to  he  ashamed  of  our  religion,  and 
had  we  not  kept  this  so  much  out  of  sight  in  India,  we  should  not  now 
be  in  such  straits  in  that  country  "  [referring  to  the  Indian  ]\Iutiny]. 
"  Let  us  appear  just  Avhat  we  ai*e.  For  my  own  part,  I  intend  to  go 
out  as  a  missionary,  and  hope  boldly,  but  with  civility,  to  state  the 
truth  of  Christianity-,  and  my  belief  that  those  who  do  not  possess  it 
are  in  error.  My  object  in  Africa  is  not  only  the  elevation  of  man, 
but  that  the  country  might  be  so  opened  that  man  might  see  the  need 
of  his  soul's  salvation.  I  propose  in  my  next  expedition  to  visit  the 
Zambesi,  and  propitiate  the  different  chiefs  along  its  banks,  endeavour- 
ing to  induce  them  to  cultivate  cotton,  and  to  a1)olish  the  slave-trade  : 
already  they  trade  in  ivory  and  gold-dust,  and  are  anxious  to  extend 
their  commercial  operations.  There  is  thus  a  probability  of  their 
interests  being  linked  Avith  ours,  and  thus  the  elevation  of  the  African 
would  be  the  result. 

"  I  believe  England  is  alive  to  her  duty  of  civilising  and  Christian- 
ising the  heathen.  AVe  cannot  all  go  out  as  missionaries,  it  is  true; 
but  we  may  all  do  something  towards  providing  a  substitute.  More- 
over, all  may  especially  do  that  Avhich  every  missionary  highly  prizes, 


228  DA  VID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xi. 

viz. — COMMEND  THE  WORK  IN  THEIR  PRAYERS.  I  HOPE  THAT  THOSE 
WHOINI  I  NOW  ADDRESS  WILL  BOTH  PRAY  FOR,  AND  HELP  THOSE  WHO 
ARE  THEIR  SUBSTITUTES." 

Dr.  Livingstone  was  thoroughly  delighted  with  his 
reception  at  Cambridge.  Writing  to  a  friend,  on  6th 
December  1857,  he  says  :  "Cambridge,  as  Playfair  would 
say,  was  grand.  It  beat  Oxford  hollow.  To  make  up  my 
library  again  they  subscribed  at  least  forty  volumes  at 
once.     I  shall  have  reason  soon  to  bless  the  Boers." 

Referrino-  to  his  Cambridsfe  visit  a  few  weeks  after- 
wards,  in  a  letter  to  Rev.  W.  Monk,  Dr.  Livingstone 
said  : — "  I  look  back  to  my  visit  to  Cambridge  as  one  of 
the  most  pleasant  episodes  of  my  life.  I  shall  always 
revert  with  feehngs  of  delight  to  the  short  intercourse  I 
enjoyed  with  such  noble  Christian  men  as  Sedgwick, 
Whew'cll,  Sehvyn,  etc.  etc.,  as  not  the  least  important 
privilege  conferred  on  me  by  my  visit  to  England.  It  is 
something  inspiriting  to  remember  that  the  eyes  of  such 
men  are  upon  one's  course.  May  blessings  rest  upon 
them  aU,  and  on  the  seat  of  learning  which  they  adorn  !" 

Among  the  subjects  that  had  occupied  Dr.  Living- 
stone's attention  most  intensely  during  the  early  part 
of  the  year  1857  was  that  of  his  relation  to  the  London 
Missionary  Society.  The  impression  caused  by  Dr. 
Tidman's  letter  received  at  Quilimane  had  been  quite 
removed  by  j^ersonal  intercourse  with  the  Directors,  who 
would  have  been  delighted  to  let  Livingstone  work  in 
their  service  in  his  own  way.  But  with  the  very  peculiar 
work  of  exploration  and  inquiry  which  he  felt  that  his 
Master  had  now  placed  in  his  hands,  Dr.  Livingstone 
was  afraid  that  his  freedom  would  be  restricted  by  his 
continuing  in  the  service  of  the  Society,  while  the  Society 
itself  would  be  liable  to  suffer  from  the  handle  that 
mio'ht  be  given  to  contributors  to  say  that  it  was  depart- 
ino-  from  the  proper  objects  of  a  missionary  body.  That 
ir  resio-nino-  his  official  connection  he  acted  with  a  full 


1857-58]  FIRST  VISIT  HOME.  229 

knowledge  of  the  effect  Avhich  this  might  have  upon  his 
own  character,  and  his  reputation  before  the  Church  and 
the  world,  is  evident  from  his  correspondence  with  one  of 
his  most  intimate  friends  and  trusted  counsellors,  Mr. 
J.  B.  Braithwaite,  of  Lincoln's  Inn.  Though  himself  a 
member  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  Mr.  Braithwaite  was 
desirous  that  Dr.  Livingstone  should  continue  to  appear 
before  the  public  as  a  Christian  minister  : — 

"  To  dissolve  thy  connection  with  the  Missionary  Society  would  at 
once  place  thee  before  the  public  in  an  aspect  wholly  distinct  from 
that  in  which  thou  art  at  present,  and,  what  is  yet  more  important, 
would  in  a  greater  or  less  degree,  and,  perhaps,  very  gradually  and 
almost  insensibly  to  thyself,  turn  the  current  of  thy  own  thoughts 
and  feelings  away  from  those  channels  of  usefulness  and  ser\ice,  as  a 
minister  of  the  gospel,  with  which  I  cannot  doubt  thy  deepest  interest 
and  highest  aspirations  are  inseparably  associated." 

On  Dr.  Livingstone  explaining  that,  while  he  fully 
appreciated  these  views,  it  did  not  appear  to  him  con- 
sistent with  duty  to  be  receiving  the  pay  of  a  working 
missionary  w^hile  engaged  to  a  considerable  extent  in 
scientific  exploration,  Mr.  Braithwaite  expressed  anew 
his  sympathy  for  his  feelings,  and  respect  for  his  decision, 
but  not  as  one  quite  convinced  : — 

"Thy  heart  is  bound,  as  I  truly  believe,  in  its  inmost  depths  to  the 
service  of  Christ.  This  is  the  '  one  thing '  which,  through  all,  it  is  thy 
desire  to  keep  in  view.  And  my  fear  has  been  lest  the  severing  of 
thy  connection  Avith  a  recognised  religious  body  should  lead  any  to 
suppose  that  thy  Christian  interests  were  in  the  least  weakened ;  or 
that  thou  wast  now  going  forth  with  any  lower  aim  than  the  advance- 
ment of  the  Redeemer's  kingdom.  Such  a  circumstance  would  be  deeply 
to  be  regretted,  for  thy  character  is  now,  if  I  may  so  speak,  not  thy 
own,  but  the  common  property,  in  a  certain  sense,  of  British  Christianity, 
and  anything  which  tended  to  lower  thy  high  standing  would  cast  a 
reflection  on  the  general  cause." 

The  result  showed  that  Mr.  Braithwaite  was  right  as 
to  the  impression  likely  to  be  made  on  the  public ;  but 
the  contents  of  this  volume  amply  prove  that  the  impres- 
sion was  wrong. 


230  DA  VID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xi. 

Dr.  Livingstone  had  said  at  Quilimane  that  if  it  were 
the  will  of  God  that  he  should  do  the  w^ork  of  exploration 
and  settlement  of  stations  which  was  indispensable  to  the 
opening  up  of  Africa,  but  which  the  Directors  did  not 
then  seem  to  wdsh  him  to  undertake,  the  means  would 
be  provided  from  some  other  quarter.  At  the  meeting 
of  the  British  Association  in  Dublin,  a  movement  was 
begun  for  getting  the  Government  to  aid  him.  The  pro- 
posal Avas  entertained  favourably  by  the  Government, 
and  practically  settled  before  the  end  of  the  year.  In 
February  1858,  Dr.  Livingstone  received  a  formal  com- 
mission, signed  by  Lord  Clarendon,  Foreign  Secretary, 
appointing  him  Her  Majesty's  Consul  at  Quilimane  for 
the  Eastern  Coast  and  the  indejDendent  districts  in  the 
interior,  and  commander  of  an  expedition  for  exploring 
Eastern  and  Central  Africa,  Dr.  Livingstone  accepted 
the  appointment,  and  during  the  last  part  of  his  stay  in 
England  was  much  engaged  in  arranging  for  the  expedi- 
tion. A  paddle  steamer  of  light  draught  was  procured 
for  the  navigation  of  the  Zambesi,  and  the  various 
members  of  the  expedition  received  their  appointments. 
These  were — Commander  Bedingfield,  K.N.,  Naval  Officer; 
John  Kirk,  M.D.,  Botanist  and  Physician;  Mr.  Charles 
Livingstone,  brother  of  Dr.  Livingstone,  General  Assis- 
tant and  Secretary ;  Mr.  Bichard  Thornton,  Practical 
Mining  Geologist ;  Mr.  Thomas  Baines,  Artist  and  Store- 
keeper ;  and  Mr.  George  Bae,  Ship  Engineer.  All 
these,  and  whoever  afterwards  might  join  the  expedition, 
were  required  to  obey  Dr.  Livingstone's  directions  as 
leader. 

"  We  managed  your  affair  very  nicely,"  Lord  Palmer- 
ston  said  to  Livingstone  at  a  reception  at  Lady  Palmer- 
ston's  on  the  12th  December.  "Had  we  waited  till  the 
usual  time  when  Parliament  should  be  asked,  it  would 
have  been  too  late."  Lord  Shaftesbury,  at  the  reception, 
assured  him  that  the  country  would  do  everything  for 


1857-58-]  FIRST  VISIT  HOME.  231 

him,  and  congratulated  him  on  going  out  in  the  way  now 
settled.  So  did  the  Lord  Chancellor  (Cranworth),  Sir 
Culling  Eardley,  and  Mr.  Calcraffc,  M.P. 

Dr.  Livingstone  was  on  the  most  friendly  terms  with 
the  Portuguese  Ambassador,  the  Count  de  Lavradio,  who 
ever  avowed  the  highest  respect  for  himself,  and  a  strong 
desire  to  help  him  in  his  work.  To  get  this  assurance 
turned  into  substantial  assistance  appeared  to  Living- 
stone to  be  of  the  very  highest  importance.  Unless 
strong  influence  were  brought  to  bear  on  the  local  Portu- 
guese Governors  in  Africa,  his  scheme  would  be  wrecked. 
The  Portuguese  Ambassador  was  then  at  Lisbon,  and 
Livingstone  had  resolved  to  go  there,  to  secure  the  in- 
fluence from  headquarters  which  was  so  necessary.  The 
Prince  Consort  had  promised  to  introduce  him  to  his 
cousin,  tlie  King  of  Portugal.  There  were,  however, 
some  obstacles  to  his  going.  Yellow  fever  was  raging  at 
Lisbon,  and  moreover,  time  was  precious,  and  a  Httle 
delay  might  lead  to  the  loss  of  a  season  on  the  Zambesi. 
At  Lady  Palmerston's  reception,  Lord  Palmerston  had  said 
to  him  that  Lord  Clarendon  might  manage  the  Portuguese 
aflair  without  his  going  to  Lisbon.  A  day  or  two  after, 
Livingstone  saw  Lord  Clarendon,  who  confirmed  Lord 
Palmerston's  opinion,  and  assured  him  that  when  Lavradio 
returned,  the  affair  would  be  settled.  The  Lisbon  journey 
was  accordingly  given  up.  The  Count  returned  to  London 
before  Livingstone  left,  and  expressed  a  wish  to  send 
a  number  of  Portuguese  agents  along  with  him.  But 
to  this  both  Lord  Clarendon  and  he  had  the  strongest 
objections,  as  complicating  the  expedition.  Livingstone 
was  furnished  with  letters  from  the  Portuguese  Govern- 
ment to  the  local  Governors,  instructing  them  to  give 
him  all  needful  help.  But  when  he  returned  to  the 
Zambesi  lie  found  that  these  public  instructions  were 
strangely  neutralised  and  reversed  by  some  imseen  pro- 
cess.    He  himself  beheved  to  the  last  in  the  honest  pur- 


232  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xi. 

pose  of  the  King  of  Portugal,  but  he  had  not  the  same 
confidence  in  the  Government.  From  some  of  the  notes 
written  to  liim  at  this  time  by  friends  who  understood 

.    more  of  diplomacy  than  he   did,  we  can  see  that  little 

actual  help  was  expected  from  the  local  Governors  in  the 

/Portuguese  settlements,  one  of  these  friends  expressing 

/  the  conviction  that  "  the  sooner  those  Portuguese  dogs- 
in-the-manger  are  eaten  up,  body  and  bones,  by  the  Zulu 
Caffres,  the  better." 

The  co-operation  of  Lord  Clarendon  was  very  cordial. 
"  He  told  me  to  go  to  Washington  (of  the  Admiralty)  as  if 
all  had  been  arranged,  and  do  everything  necessary,  and 
come  to  him  for  everything  I  needed.  He  repeated, 
'  Just  come  here  and  tell  me  what  you  want,  and  I  will 
give  it  you.'  He  was  wonderfully  kind.  I  thank  God 
who  gives  the  influence."  Among  other  things.  Lord 
Clarendon  wrote  an  official  letter  to  the  chief  Sekeletu, 
thanking  him,  in  the  name  of  the  Queen,  for  his  kindness 
and  help  to  her  servant,  Dr.  Livingstone,  explaining  the 
desire  of  the  British  nation,  as  a  commerical  and  Christian 
people,  to  live  at  peace  with  all  and  to  benefit  all ;  telling 
him  too  what  they  thought  of  the  slave-trade ;  hoping 
that  Sekeletu  would  help  to  keep  "  God's  highway,"  the 
river  Zambesi,  as  a  free  pathway  for  all  nations  ;  assuring 
him  of  friendship  and  good-will ;  and  respectfully  hinting 
that,  "as  we  have  derived  all  our  greatness  from  the 
divine  religion  we  received  from  heaven,  it  will  be  well 
if  you  consider  it  carefully  when  any  of  our  people  talk 
to  you  about  it."^ 

Most  men,  after  receiving  such  carte  hlancJie  as  Lord 
Clarendon  had  given  to  Livingstone,  would  have  been 
drawing  out  plans  on  a  large  scale,  regardless  of  expense. 
Livingstone's  ideas  w^ere  quite  in  the  opposite  direction. 
Instead  of  having  to  press  Captain  Washington,  he  had  to 
restrain  him.     The  Expedition  as  planned  by  Washington, 

'  See  Appendix  No.  IV.,  p.  485. 


1857-58.]  FIRST  VISIT  HOME.  233 

with  commander  and  assistant,  and  a  large  staff  of  officers, 
was  too  expensive.  All  that  Livingstone  wished  was  a 
steam  launch,  with  an  economic  botanist,  a  practical 
mining  geologist,  and  an  assistant.  All  was  to  be  plain 
and  practical ;  nothing  was  wished  for  ornament  or  show. 
Before  we  come  to  the  last  adieus,  it  is  well  to  glance 
at  the  remarkable  effect  of  Dr.  Livingstone's  short  visit, 
in  connection  with  his  previous  labours,  on  the  jD^^blic 
opinion  of  the  country  in  regard  to  Africa.  In  the  first 
place,  as  we  have  already  remarked,  there  was  quite  a 
revolution  of  ideas  as  to  the  interior  of  the  country.  It 
astonished  men  to  find  that,  instead  of  a  vast  sandy 
desert,  it  was  so  rich  and  productive  a  land,  and  mer- 
chants came  to  see  that  if  only  a  safe  and  wholesome 
traffic  could  be  introduced,  the  result  would  be  hardly 
less  beneficial  to  them  than  to  the  people  of  Africa.  In 
the  second  place,  a  new  idea  was  given  of  the  African 
people.  Caffre  wars  and  other  mismanaged  enterprises 
had  brought  out  the  wildest  aspects  of  the  native  char- 
acter, and  had  led  to  the  impression  that  the  blacks  were 
just  as  brutish  and  ferocious  as  the  tigers  and  crocodiles 
among  which  they  lived.  But  Livingstone  showed,  as 
Moffat  had  showed  before  him,  that,  rightly  dealt  with,.  / 
they  were  teachable  and  companionable,  full  of  respect  V 
for  the  white  man,  affectionate  towards  him  when  he 
treated  them  well,  and  eager  to  have  him  dwelling  among 
them.  On  the  slave-trade  of  the  interior  he  had  thrown 
a  ghastly  light,  although  it  was  reserved  to  hun  in  his 
future  journeys  to  make  a  full  exposure  of  the  devil's 
work  in  that  infamous  traffic.  He  had  thrown  light,  too, 
on  the  structure  of  Africa,  shown  where  healthy  localities 
were  to  be  found,  copiously  illustrated  its  fauna  and 
flora,  discovered  great  rivers  and  lakes,  and  laid  them 
down  on  its  map  A\ith  the  greatest  accuracy ;  and  he  had 
shown  how  its  most  virulent  disease  might  be  reduced  to 
the  category  of  an  ordinary  cold.     In  conjunction  with 


234  J) A  VI D  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xi. 

other  great  African  travellers,  he  had  contributed  not  a 
little  to  the  great  increase  of  popularity  which  had  been 
acquired  by  the  Geographical  Society.  He  had  shown 
abundance  of  openings  for  Christian  missions  from  Kuru- 
man  to  the  Zambesi,  and  from  Loanda  to  Quilimane.  He 
had  excited  no  httle  compassion  for  the  negro,  by  vivid 
pictures  of  his  dark  and  repulsive  life,  with  so  much  misery 
in  it  and  so  little  joy.  In  the  cause  of  missions  he  did  not 
appeal  in  vain.  At  the  Enghsh  Universities,  young  men 
of  ability  and  promise  got  new  light  on  the  purposes  of 
life,  and  wondered  that  they  had  not  thought  sooner  of 
offering  themselves  for  such  noble  work.  In  Scotland, 
men  like  James  Stewart,  now  of  Lovedale,  were  set  think- 
ing whether  they  should  not  give  themselves  to  Africa, 
and  older  men,  like  Mr.  R.  A.  Macfie  and  the  late  Mr. 
James  Cunningham  of  Edinburgh,  were  pondering  in  what 
manner  the  work  could  be  begun.  The  London  Missionary 
Society,  catching  up  Livingstone's  watchword  "  Onward," 
w^ere  planning  a  mission  at  Linyanti,  on  the  banks  of  the 
Zambesi.  Mr.  Moffat  was  about  to  pay  a  visit  to  the 
great  Mosilikatse,  with  a  view  to  the  commencement  of  a 
mission  to  the  Matebele.  As  for  Livingstone  himself, 
his  heart  was  yearning  after  his  friends  the  Makololo. 
He  had  been  quite  willing  to  go  and  be  their  missionary, 
but  in  the  meantime  other  duty  called  him.  Not  beiug 
aware  of  any  purpose  to  plant  a  mission  among  them,  he 
made  an  arrangement  with  his  brother-in-law,  Mr.  John 
Moffat,  to  become  their  missionary.  Out  of  his  private 
resources  he  promised  him  £500,  for  outfit,  etc.,  and  £150 
a  year  for  five  years  as  salary,  besides  other  sums,  amount- 
ing in  all  to  £1400.  Nearly  three  years  of  his  own 
salary  as  Consul  (£500)  were  thus  pledged  and  paid.  In 
one  word,  Africa,  wdiich  had  long  been  a  symbol  of  aU 
that  is  dry  and  uninviting,  suddenly  became  the  most 
interesting  part  of  the  globe. 

As  the  time  of  Dr.  Livingstone's  departure  for  Africa 


1857-58.]  FIRST  VISIT  HOME.  235 

drew  near,  a  strong  desire  arose  among  many  of  his 
friends,  chiefly  the  geographers,  to  take  leave  of  him  in  a 
way  that  should  emphatically  mark  the  strength  of  their 
admiration  and  the  cordiality  of  their  good  wishes.  It 
was  accordingly  resolved  that  he  should  be  invited  to  a 
public  dinner  on  the  13th  February  1858,  and  that  Sir 
Roderick  Murchison  should  occupy  the  chair.  On  the 
morning  of  that  day  he  had  the  honour  of  an  interview 
with  Her  Majesty  the  Queen.  A  Scottish  correspondent 
of  an  American  journal,  whose  letter  at  other  points  -v 
shows  that  he  had  good  information,'^  after  referring  to 
the  fact  that  Livingstone  was  not  presented  in  the  usual 
way,  says  : — 

"  He  Avas  honoured  by  the  Queen  Avith  a  jDrivate  interview.  .  .  . 
She  sent  for  Livingstone,  who  attended  Her  Majesty  at  the  palace, 
Avithout  ceremony,  in  his  black  coat  and  blue  trousers,  and  his  cap 
surrounded  with  a  stripe  of  gold  lace.  This  was  his  usual  attire,  and 
the  cap  had  now  become  the  appropriate  distinction  of  one  of  Her 
Majesty's  consuls,  an  official  position  to  which  the  traveller  attaches 
great  importance,  as  giving  him  consequence  in  the  eyes  of  the 
natives,  and  authority  over  the  members  of  the  expedition.  The 
Queen  conversed  with  him  affably  for  half  an  hour  on  the  subject  of 
his  travels.  Dr.  Livingstone  told  Her  Majesty  that  he  would  now  be 
able  to  say  to  the  natives  that  he  had  seen  his  chief,  his  not  having 
done  so  before  having  been  a  constant  subject  of  surprise  to  the 
children  of  the  African  wilderness.  He  mentioned  to  Her  ]\Lijesty 
also  that  the  people  were  in  the  habit  of  inquiring  Avhether  his  chief 
Avere  Avealthy ;  and  that  Avhen  he  assured  them  she  Avas  very  Avealthy, 
they  Avould  ask  hoAv  many  coavs  she  had  got,  a  question  at  Avliich  the 
Queen  laughed  heartily." 

In  the  only  notice  of  this  interview  which  we  have 
found  in  Livingstone's  own  writing,  he  simply  says  that 
Her  Majesty  assured  him  of  her  good  wishes  in  his 
journeys.  It  was  the  only  interview  with  his  Sov^ereign 
he  ever  had.  When  he  returned  in  18G4  he  said  that 
he  would  have  been  pleased  to  have  another,  but  only  if 
it  came  naturally,  and  without  his  seeking  it.     The  Queen 

1  We  have  ascertained  that  the  correspondent  was  the  late  Mr.  Keddie,  of  the 
GlasgoAV  Free  Church  College,  who  got  his  information  from  Mr.  James  Young. 


236  BA  VID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xi. 

manifested  the  greatest  interest  in  him,  and  showed  gi'eat 
kindness  to  his  family,  when  the  rumour  came  of  his 
death. 

The  banquet  in  Freemasons'  Tavern,  which  it  had 
been  intended  to  hmit  to  250  guests,  overflowed  the 
allotted  bounds,  and  was  attended  by  upwards  of  350, 
including  the  Ministers  of  Sweden  and  Norway,  and  of 
Denmark  ;  Dukes  of  Argyll  and  Wellington  ;  Earl  of 
Shaftesbury  and  Earl  Grey  ;  Bishops  of  Oxford  and  St. 
David's  ;  and  hosts  of  other  celebrities  in  almost  every 
department  of  public  life.  The  feeling  was  singularly 
cordial.  Sir  Roderick  rehearsed  the  services  of  Living- 
stone, crowning  them,  as  was  his  wont,  with  that  memor- 
able act — his  keeping  his  promise  to  his  black  servants  by 
returning  with  them  from  Loanda  to  the  heart  of  Africa, 
in  spite  of  all  the  perils  of  the  way,  and  all  the  attractions 
of  England,  thereby  "  leaving  for  himself  in  that,  country 
a  glorious  name,  and  proving  to  the  people  of  Africa 
what  an  English  Christian  is."  Still  more,  perhaps,  did 
Sir  Roderick  touch  the  heart  of  the  audience  when  he 
said  of  Livingstone  "  that  notwithstanding  eighteen 
months  of  laudation,  so  justly  bestowed  on  him  by  all 
classes  of  his  countrymen,  and  after  receiving  all  the 
honours  which  the  Universities  and  cities  of  our  country 
could  shower  upon  him,  he  is  still  the  same  honest,  true- 
hearted  David  Livingstone  as  when  he  issued  from  the 
wilds  of  Africa."  It  was  natural  for  the  Duke  of  Argyll 
to  recall  the  fact  that  Livingstone's  family  Avas  an 
Argyllshire  one,  and  it  was  a  happy  thought  that  as 
Ulva  was  close  to  lona — "  that  illustrious  island,"  as  Dr. 
Samuel  Johnson  called  it,  "  whence  roving  tribes  and 
rude  barbarians  derived  the  benefits  of  knowledgfe  and 
the  blessings  of  rehgion," — so  might  the  son  of  Ulva 
carry  the  same  blessings  to  Africa,  and  be  remembered, 
perhaps,  by  millions  of  the  human  race  as  the  first 
pioneer  of  civilisation,   and  the  first   harbinger   of  the 


1857-58.]  FIRST  VISIT  HOME. 


22,1 


gospel.  It  was  graceful  in  the  Bishop  of  Oxford  (Samuel 
Wilberforce)  to  advert  to  the  debt  of  unparalleled  magni-  J 
tude  which  England,  founder  of  the  accursed  slave-trade, 
owed  to  Africa,  and  to  urge  the  immediate  prosecution  of 
Livingstone's  plans,  inasmuch  as  the  spots  in  Africa, 
where  the  so-called  Christian  trader  had  come,  were 
marked,  more  than  any  other,  by  crime  and  distrust,  and 
insecurity  of  life  and  property.  It  was  a  good  oppor- 
tunity for  Professor  Owen  to  tell  the  story  of  the  spiral 
tusk,  to  rehearse  some  remarkable  instances  of  Livino-- 
stone's  accurate  observations  and  happy  conjectures  on 
the  habits  of  animals,  to  rate  him  for  destroying  the 
moral  character  of  the  lion,  and  to  claim  credit  to  liimself 
for  having  discovered,  in  the  bone  caves  of  England,  the 
remains  of  an  animal  of  greater  bulk  than  any  living 
species,  that  may  have  possessed  all  the  qualities  which 
the  most  ardent  admirer  of  the  British  lion  could  desire  !^ 
On  no  topic  was  the  applause  of  the  company  more 
enthusiastic  than  when  mention  was  made  of  Mrs. 
Livingstone,  who  was  then  prejDaring  to  accompany  her 
husband  on  his  journey.  Livingstone's  own  words  to  the 
company  were  simple  and  hearty,  but  they  were  the 
words  of  truth  and  soberness.  He  was  overwhelmed 
with  the  kindness  he  had  experienced.  He  did  not 
expect  any  speedy  result  from  the  expedition,  but  he  was 
sanguine  as  to  its  ultimate  benefit.  He  thought  they 
would  get  in  the  thin  end  of  the  wedge,  and  that  it 
would  be  driven  home  by  English  energy  and  spirit. 
For  himself,  with  all  eyes  resting  upon  him,  he  felt  under 
an  obligation  to  do  better  than  he  had  ever  done.  And 
as  to  Mrs.  Livingstone — 

"  It  is  scarcely  fail'  to  ask  a  man  to  praise  his  own  Avife,  but  I  can 
only  say  that  when  I  parted  from  her  at  the  Cape,  telling  her  that  I 

^  Livingstone  purposed  to  beqiieath  to  Professor  Owen  a  somewhat  extraordinary 
legacy.  Wi-iting  afterwards  to  his  friend  Mr.  Young,  he  said:  "If  I  die  at 
home  I  would  lie  beside  you.  !My  left  arm  goes  to  Professor  Owen,  miud.  That 
is  the  will  of  David  Livingstone."' 


238  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xi. 

should  return  in  two  years,  and  when  it  hajipened  that  I  w^as  absent 
four  years  and  a  half,  I  supiiosed  that  I  should  appear  before  her  with 
a  damaged  character.  I  was,  however,  forgiven.  My  wife,  who  has 
always  been  the  main  spoke  in  my  wheel,  will  accompany  me  in  this 
expedition,  and  will  be  most  useful  to  me.  She  is  familiar  with  the 
languages  of  South  Africa.  She  is  able  to  work.  She  is  willing 
to  endure,  and  she  well  knows  that  in  that  country  one  must  put  one's 
hand  to  everything.  In  the  country  to  Avhich  I  am  about  to  proceed 
she  knows  that  at  the  missionary's  station  the  wife  must  be  the  maid- 
of-all-work  Avithin,  while  the  husband  must  be  the  jack-of-all-trades 
without,  and  glad  am  I  indeed  that  I  am  to  be  accompanied  by  my 
guardian  angel." 

Of  the  many  letters  of  adieu  he  received  before 
setting  out  we  have  space  for  only  two.  The  first  came 
from  the  venerable  Professor  Sedgwick,  of  Cambridge,  in 
the  form  of  an  apology  for  inability  to  attend  the  farewell 
banquet.  It  is  a  beautiful  unfolding  of  the  head  and 
heart  of  the  Christian  philosopher,  and  must  have  been 
singularly  welcome  to  Livingstone,  whose  views  on  some 
of  the  greatest  subjects  of  thought  were  in  thorough 
harmony  with  those  of  his  friend  : — 

'■  Cambridge,  Fchruary  10,  1858. — My  dear  Sir, — Your  kind  and 
very  welcome  letter  came  to  me  yesterday ;  and  I  take  the  first 
moment  of  leisure  to  thank  you  for  it,  and  to  send  you  a  few  more 
words  of  good-will,  along  with  my  prayers  that  God  may,  for  many 
years,  prolong  your  life  and  the  lives  of  those  who  are  most  near  and 
dear  to  you,  and  that  He  may  support  you  in  all  coming  trials,  and 
crown  with  a  success,  fiar  transcending  your  own  hopes,  your  endea- 
vours for  the  good  of  our  poor  humble  fellow-creatures  in  Africa. 

"  There  is  but  one  God,  the  God  who  created  all  worlds  and  the 
natural  laws  whereby  they  are  governed ;  and  the  God  of  revealed 
truth,  who  tells  us  of  our  destinies  in  an  eternal  world  to  come.  All 
truth  of  whatever  kind  has  therefore  its  creator  in  the  will  and  essence 
of  that  great  God  who  created  all  things,  moral  and  natural.  Great 
and  good  men  have  long  upheld  this  grand  conclusion.  But,  alas  ! 
such  is  too  often  our  bigotry,  or  ignorance,  or  selfishness,  that  we  try 
to  divorce  religious  and  moral  from  natural  truth,  as  if  they  were 
inconsistent  and  in  positive  antagonism  one  to  the  other, — a  true 
catholic  spirit  (oh  that  the  Avord  'catholic'  had  not  been  so  horribly 
abused  by  the  foul  deeds  of  men),  teaching  us  that  all  truths  are  linked 
together,  and  that  all  art  and  science,  and  all  material  discoveries 
(each  held  in  its  ]iroper  j^lace  and  subordination),  may  be  used  to 
minister  to  the  difi'usion  of  Christian  truth  among  men,  with  all  its 


IS57-58.]  FIRST  VISIT  HOME. 


239 


blessed  fruits  of  peace  and  good-will.  This  is,  I  believe,  yonr  faith,  as 
I  see  it  shining  out  in  your  deeds,  and  set  forth  in  the  i)ages  of  your 
Avork  on  Southern  Africa,  which  I  have  studied  from  beginning  to 
end  with  sentiments  of  reverence  and  honour  for  the  past,  and  good 
hoj)es  for  the  future, 

"  What  a  glorious  prospect  is  before  you !  the  commencement  of  the 
civilisation  of  Africa,  the  extension  of  our  knowledge  of  all  the  king- 
doms of  nature,  the  ])roduction  of  great  material  benefits  to  the  old 
world,  the  gradual  healing  of  that  foul  and  fetid  ulcer  the  slave-trade, 
the  one  grand  disgrace  and  weakness  of  Christendom,  and  that  has 
defiled  the  hands  of  all  those  who  have  had  any  dealings  with  it ;  and 
last,  bvit  not  least — nay,  the  greatest  of  all,  and  the  true  end  of  all — 
the  lifting  up  of  the  poor  African  from  the  earth,  the  turning  his 
face  heavenwards,  and  the  glory  of  at  length  (after  all  his  sufferings 
and  all  our  sins)  calling  him  a  Christian  brother.  May  our  Lord  and 
Saviour  bless  your  labours,  and  may  His  Holy  Spirit  be  with  you  to 
the  end  of  your  life  upon  this  troubled  world  ! 

"  I  am  an  old  man,  and  I  shall  (so  far  as  I  am  permitted  to  look 
at  the  future)  never  see  your  face  again.  If  I  live  till  the  2 2d  of 
March  I  shall  have  ended  my  73d  year,  and  not  only  from  what  we 
all  know  from  the  ordinary  course  of  nature,  but  from  what  I  myself 
know  and  feel  from  the  experience  of  the  two  i)ast  years,  I  am  assured 
that  I  have  not  long  to  live.  How  long,  God  only  knows.  It  grieves 
me  not  to  have  seen  you  again  in  London,  and  I  did  hope  that  you 
might  yourself  introduce  me  to  your  wife  and  children,  I  hear  that  a 
farewell  dinner  is  to  be  given  you  on  Saturday,  and  greatly  should  I 
rejoice  to  be  present  on  that  occasion,  and  along  with  many  other 
true-hearted  friends  wish  you  '  God-speed.'  But  it  must  not  be.  I 
am  not  a  close  prisoner  to  my  room,  as  I  Avas  some  weeks  past,  but  I 
am  still  on  the  sick  list,  and  dare  not  expose  myself  to  any  sudden 
change  of  temperature,  or  to  the  excitement  of  a  public  meeting. 
This  is  one  of  the  frailties  of  old  age  and  infirm  health.  I  have  gone 
on  Avriting  and  writing  more  than  I  intended.  Once  for  all,  God  bless 
you  !  and  pray  (though  I  do  not  personally  know  them)  give  my  best 
and  Christian  love  to  your  dear  wife  (Ma-Robert  she  was  called,  I 
thiidv,  in  Africa)  and  children. — Ever  gratefully  and  aflfectionately 
yours,  A.  Sedgwick." 

Sir  Roderick,  too,  had  a  kind  parting  word  for  his 
friend  : — "  Accept  my  warmest  acknowledgments  for 
your  last  farewell  note.  Believe  me,  my  dear  friend, 
that  no  transaction  in  my  somewhat  long  and  very  active 
life  has  so  truly  rewarded  me  as  my  intercourse  with  you, 
for,  from  the  beginning  to  the  end,  it  has  been  one  con- 
tinued bright  gleam." 


240  BA  VID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xi. 

To  this  note  Livingstone,  as  was  his  wont,  made  a 
hearty  and  Christian  response  : — "  Many  blessings  be  on 
you  and  yours,  and  if  we  never  meet  again  on  earth,  may 
we  through  infinite  mercy  meet  in  heaven  ! " 

The  last  days  in  England  were  spent  in  arrangements 
for  the  expedition,  settling  family  plans,  and  bidding 
farewell.  Mrs.  Livingstone  accompanied  her  husband, 
along  with  Oswell,  their  youngest  child.  Dr.  Living- 
stone's heart  was  deeply  affected  in  parting  with  his 
other  children.  Amid  all  the  hurry  and  bustle  of  leaving 
he  snatches  a  few  minutes  almost  daily  for  a  note  to  one 
or  more  of  them  : — 

"London,  2d  February  18.58. — My  dear  Tom, — I  am  soon  going 
oiT  from  this  country,  and  will  leave  you  to  the  care  oif  Him  who 
neither  slumbers  nor  sleeps,  and  never  disappointed  apy  one  who  put 
his  trust  in  Him.  If  you  make  Him  yonr  friend  He  will  be  better  to 
you  than  any  companion  can  be.  He  is  a  friend  that  sticketh  closer 
than  a  brother.  ]\Iay  He  grant  you  grace  to  seek  Him  and  to  serve 
Him.  I  have  nothing  better  to  say  to  you  than  to  take  God  for  your 
Father,  Jesus  for  your  Saviour,  and  the  Holy  Spirit  for  your  sanctifier. 
Do  this  and  you  are  safe  for  ever.  No  evil  can  then  befall  you. 
Hojie  you  will  learn  quickly  and  well,  so  as  to  be  fitted  for  God's 
service  in  the  world." 

'''Pearl'  in  the  Mersey,  lOtli  March  1858.— My  deae  Tom, — We 
are  off  again,  and  we  trust  that  He  Avho  rules  the  waves  will  watch 
over  us  and  remain  with  you,  to  bless  us  and  make  us  blessings  to  our 
fellow-men.  The  Lord  be  with  you  and  be  very  gracious  to  you ! 
Avoid  and  hate  sin,  and  cleave  to  Jesus  as  your  Saviour  from  guilt. 
Tell  grandma  we  are  off  again,  and  Janet  will  tell  all  about  us." 

In  his  letters  to  his  children  from  first  to  last,  the 
counsel  most  constantly  and  most  earnestly  pressed  is,  to 
take  Jesus  for  their  friend.  The  personal  Saviour  is 
continually  present  to  his  heart,  as  the  one  inestimable 
treasure  which  he  lonofs  for  them  to  secure.  'Hiat  treasure 
had  been  a  source  of  unspeakable  peace  and  joy  to  himself 
amid  all  the  trials  and  troubles  of  his  chequered  life ;  if 
his  children  were  only  in  friendship  with  Hmi,  he  could 
breathe  freely  in  leaving  them,  and  feel  that  they  would 
indeed  fare  avell. 


i«5^-59-]  THE  ZAMBESI.  241 


CHAPTER    XII. 

THE   ZAMBESI,    AND    FIRST    EXPLORATIONS   OF 
THE    SHIRE. 

A.D.  18.38-1859. 

Dr.  and  Mrs.  Livingstone  sail  in  the  "Pearl" — Charactsristic  instructions  to 
members  of  Expedition — Dr.  Livingstone  conscious  of  difficult  jiosition — 
Letter  to  Robert — Sierra  Leone — Effects  of  Britisli  Squadron  and  of  Christian 
Missions — Dr.  and  Mrs.  Moffat  at  Cape  Town — Splendid  reception  there — 
Illness  of  Mrs.  Livingstone — She  remains  behind — The  five  years  of  the 
Expedition — Letter  to  Mr.  James  Young — to  Dr.  Moffat — Kongone  entrance 
to  Zambesi — Collision  with  Naval  Officer — Disturbed  state  of  the  country — 
Trip  to  Kebrabasa  Rapids — Dr.  Livingstone  applies  for  new  steamer — 
Willing  to  pay  for  one  himself — Exploration  of  the  Shire — Murchison  Cataracts 
■ — Extracts  from  private  Journal — Discovery  of  Lake  Shirwa — Correspondence 
— Letter  to  Agnes  Livingstone — Trip  to  Tette — Kroomen  and  two  members 
of  Expedition  dismissed  —  Livingstone's  vindication  —  Discovery  of  Lake 
Nyassa — Bright  hopes  for  the  future — Idea  of  a  colony — Generosity  of  Living- 
stone— Letters  to  Mr.  Maclcar,  Mr.  Young,  and  Sir  Roderick  Murchison — 
His  sympathy  with  the  "honest  j)Oor  " — He  hears  of  the  birth  of  his  youngest 
daughter. 

On  the  lOtli  March  1858,  Dr.  Livingstone,  accomj)anied 
by  Mrs.  Livingstone,  their  youngest  son,  Oswell,  and  the 
members  of  his  expedition,  sailed  from  Liverpool  on 
board  Her  Majesty's  colonial  steamer,  the  "  Pearl," 
w^hich  carried  the  sections  of  the  "  Ma  Robert,"  the 
steam  launch  with  Mrs.  Livingstone's  African  name, 
which  was  to  be  permanently  used  in  the  exploration 
of  the  Zambesi  and  its  tributaries.  At  starting,  the 
"  Pearl "  had  fine  weather  and  a  favourable  wind,  and 
quickly  ran  down  the  Channel,  and  across  the  Bay  of 
Biscay.  With  that  business-like  precision  which  charac- 
terised  him,   Livingstone,   as   soon   as   sea-sickness  was 

Q 


242  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xii. 

over,  had  the  instructions  of  the  Foreiofn  Office  read  in 
presence  of  all  the  members  of  the  Expedition,  and  he 
afterwards  wrote  out,  and  delivered  to  each  person,  a 
specific  statement  of  the  duties  expected  of  him. 

In  these  very  characteristic  papers,  it  is  interesting 
to  observe  that  his  first  business  was  to  lay  down  to  each 
man  his  specific  work,  this  being  done  for  the  purpose 
of  avoiding  confusion  and  collision,  acknowledging  each 
man's  gifts,  and  making  him  independent  in  his  own 
sphere.  While  no  pains  were  to  be  sj)ared  to  make  the 
expedition  successful  in  its  scientific  and  commercial  aims, 
and  while,  for  this  purpose,  great  stress  was  laid  on  the 
subsidiary  instructions  prepared  by  Professor  Owen,  Sir 
W.  Hooker,  and  Sir  E,.  Murchison,  Dr.  Livingstone 
showed  still  more  earnestness  in  urging  duties  of  a  higher 
class,  giving  to  all  the  same  wise,  and  most  Christian 
counsel  to  maintain  the  moral  of  the  Expedition  at 
the  highest  point,  especially  in  deahng  with  the 
natives  : — 

"  You  "vvill  understand  that  Her  Majesty's  Government  attach  more 
importance  to  the  moral  influence  which  may  he  exerted  on  tlie  minds 
of  the  natives  by  a  "well-regulated  and  orderly  household  of  Europeans, 
setting  an  example  of  consistent  moral  conduct  to  all  who  may  con- 
gregate around  the  settlement ;  treating  the  people  with  kindness,  and 
relieving  their  wants ;  teaching  them  to  make  experiments  in  agricul- 
ture, explaining  to  them  the  more  simple  arts,  imparting  to  them 
religious  instruction,  as  far  as  they  are  capable  of  receiving  it,  and 
inculcating  peace  and  good-will  to  each  other. 

*'  The  expedition  is  well  supplied  with  arms  and  ammunition,  and 
it  will  be  necessary  to  use  these  in  order  to  obtain  supplies  of  food, 
as  well  as  to  procure  specimens  for  the  purposes  of  Natural  History. 
In  many  parts  of  the  country  Avhich  we  hope  to  traverse,  the  larger 
animals  exist  in  great  numbers,  and,  being  comparatively  tame,  may  be 
easily  shot.  I  Avould  earnestly  press  on  every  member  of  the  expedi- 
tion a  sacred  regard  to  life,  and  never  to  destroy  it  unless  some  good 
end  is  to  be  answered  by  its  extinction ;  the  wanton  Avaste  of  animal 
life  which  I  have  witnessed  from  night-hunting,  and  from  the  ferocious, 
but  childlike,  abuse  of  the  instruments  of  destruction  in  the  hands  of 
Europeans,  makes  me  anxious  tiiat  this  expedition  should  not  be  guilty 
of  similar  abominations. 


1858-59-]  THE  ZAMBESI.  243 

"It  is  hoped  that  we  may  never  have  occasion  to  use  our  arms  for 
protection  from  the  natives,  but  the  best  security  from  attack  consists 
in  upright  conduct,  and  the  natives  seeing  that  we  are  prepared  to  meet 
it.  At  the  same  time,  you  are  strictly  enjoined  to  exercise  the  greatest 
forbearance  towards  the  people ;  and,  while  retaining  proper  firmness 
in  the  event  of  any  misunderstanding,  to  conciliate,  as  far  as  possibly 
can  be  done  with  safety  to  our  party. 

"  It  is  unnecessary  for  me  to  enjoin  the  strictest  justice  in  dealing 
with  the  natives.  This  your  own  principles  will  lead  you  invariably 
to  follow,  but  while  doing  so  yourself,  it  is  decidedly  necessary  to  be 
careful  not  to  appear  to  overreach  or  insult  any  one  by  the  conduct  of 
those  under  your  command.  .  .  . 

"  The  chiefs  of  tribes  and  leading  men  of  villages  ought  alwaj'S  to 
be  treated  with  respect,  and  nothing  should  be  done  to  weaken  their 
authority.  Any  present  of  food  should  be  accepted  frankly,  as  it  is 
impolitic  to  allow  the  ancient  custom  of  feeding  strangers  to  go  into 
disuse.  AVe  come  among  them  as  members  of  a  superior  race,  and 
servants  of  a  Government  that  desires  to  elevate  the  more  degraded 
portions  of  the  human  family.  We  are  adherents  of  a  benign,  holy 
religion,  and  may,  by  consistent  conduct,  and  wise,  patient  efforts, 
become  the  harbingers  of  peace  to  a  hitherto  distracted  and  trodden 
down  race.  No  great  result  is  ever  attained  without  patient,  long- 
continued  effort.  In  the  enterprise  in  which  we  have  the  honour  to 
be  engaged,  deeds  of  sympathy,  consideration,  and  kindness,  which, 
when  viewed  in  detail,  may  seem  thrown  away,  if  steadily  persisted  in, 
are  sure,  ultimately,  to  exercise  a  commanding  influence.  Depend  upon 
it,  a  kind  word  or  deed  is  never  lost." 

Evidently,  Dr.  Livingstone  felt  himself  in  a  difHciilt 
position  at  the  head  of  this  enterprise.  He  was  aware 
of  the  trouble  that  had  usually  attended  civil  as  con- 
trasted with  naval  and  military  expeditions,  from  the 
absence  of  that  habit  of  discipline  and  obedience  which 
is  so  firmly  estabhshed  in  the  latter  services.  He  had 
never  served  under  Her  Majesty's  Government  himself, 
nor  had  he  been  accustomed  to  command  such  men  as 
were  now  under  him,  and  there  were  some  things  in  liLs 
antecedents  that  made  the  duty  peculiarly  difficult.  On 
one  thing  only  he  was  resolved  :  to  do  his  own  duty  to 
the  utmost,  and  to  spare  no  pains  to  induce  every  member 
of  the  Expedition  to  do  his.  It  was  impossible  for  him 
not  to  be  anxious  as  to  how  the  team  would  pull  together, 
especially  as  he  knew  well  the  influence  of  a  malarious 


2  44  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xii. 

atmosphere  in  causing  intense  irritability  of  temper.  In 
some  respects,  tlioiigh  not  the  most  obvious,  this  was  the 
most  trying  period  of  his  life.  His  letters  and  other 
written  papers  show  one  little  but  not  uninstructive 
effect  of  the  pressure  and  distraction  that  now  came  on 
him— in  the  great  change  which  his  handwriting  under- 
went— the  neat,  regular  writing  of  his  youth  giving  place 
to  a  large  and  heavyish  hand,  as  if  he  had  never  had 
time  to  mend  his  pen,  and  his  only  thought  had  been 
how  to  get  on  most  quickly.  Yet  we  see  also,  very 
clearly,  how  nobly  he  strove  after  self-control  and  con- 
ciliatory ways.  The  tone  of  courtesy,  the  recognition  of 
each  man's  independence  in  his  own  sj)here,  and  the 
appeal  to  his  good  sense  and  good  feeling,  apparent  in 
the  instructions,,  show  a  studious  desire,  while  he  took 
and  intended  to  keep  his  place  as  Commander,  to  conceal 
the  symbols  of  authority,  and  bind  the  members  of  the 
party  together  as  a  band  of  brothers.  And  though  in 
his  pubhshed  book.  The  Zamhesi  and  its  Tributaries, 
which  was  mainly  a  report  of  his  doings  to  the  Govern- 
ment and  the  nation,  he  confined  himself  to  the  matters 
with  which  he  had  been  intrusted  by  them,  there  are 
many  little  proofs  of  his  seeking  wdsdom  and  strength 
from  above  with  luidiminished  earnestness,  and  of 
his  striving,  as  much  as  ever,  to  do  all  to  the  glory 
of  God. 

As  the  swift  motion  of  the  ship  bears  him  farther  and 
farther  from  home,  he  cannot  but  think  of  his  orphan 
children.  As  they  near  Sierra  Leone,  on  the  25th  March, 
he  sends  a  few  lines  to  his  eldest  son  : — 

"My  dear  Robert, — We  have  been  going  at  tlie  rate  of  200 
miles  a  day  ever  since  we  left  Liverpool,  and  have  been  much  favoured 
by  a  kind  Providence  in  the  'sveather.  Poor  Oswell  was  sorely  sick 
while  rolling  through  the  Bay  of  Biscay,  and  ate  nothing  for  about 
three  days ;  but  we  soon  got  away  from  the  ice  and  snow  to  beautiful 
summer  weather,  and  we  are  getting  nicely  thawed.  "We  sleep  with 
all  our  port-holes  open,  and  are  glad  of  the  awning  by  day.     At  night 


1858-59.]  THE  ZAMBESI.  245 

we  see  the  Southern  Cross ;  and  the  Pole  Star,  which  stands  so  high 
over  you,  is  here  so  low  we  cannot  see  it  for  the  haze.  We  shall  not 
see  it  again,  but  the  saipe  almighty  gracious  Father  is  over  all,  and 
is  near  to  all  who  love  Him.  You  are  now  alone  in  the  world,  and 
must  seek  His  friendship  and  guidance,  for  if  you  do  not  lean  on  Him, 
you  will  go  astray,  and  find  that  the  way  of  transgressors  is  hard. 
The  Lord  be  gracious  to  you,  and  accept  you,  though  unworthy  of 
His  favour." 

Sierra  Leone  was  reached  in  a  fortnight.  Dr.  Living- 
stone was  gratified  to  learn  that,  during  the  last  ten 
years,  the  health  of  the  town  had  improved  greatly — 
consequent  on  the  abatement  of  the  "  whisky  fever," 
and  the  draining  and  paving  of  the  streets  through  the 
activity  of  Governor  Hill.  He  found  the  Sunday  as  well 
kept  as  in  Scotland,  and  was  sure  that  posterity  would 
acknowledge  the  great  blessing  which  the  operations  of 
the  English  Squadron  on  the  one  hand  and  the  various 
Christian  missions  on  the  other  had  effected.  He  was 
more  than  ever  convinced,  notwithstanding  all  that  had 
been  said  against  it,  that  the  English  Squadron  had  been 
a  great  blessing  on  the  West  Coast.  The  Christian  mis- 
sions, too,  that  had  been  planted  under  the  protection  of 
the  Squadron,  were  an  evidence  of  its  beneficial  influence. 
He  used  constantly  to  refer  with  intense  gratitude  to  the 
work  of  Lord  Palmerston  in  this  cause,  and  to  the  very  end 
of  his  life  his  Lordship  was  among  the  men  whose  memory 
he  most  highly  honoured.  Often,  when  he  wished  to  de- 
scribe his  aim  briefly,  in  regard  to  slavery,  commerce,  and 
missions,  he  would  say  it  was  to  do  on  the  East  Coast 
what  had  been  done  on  the  West.  At  Sierra  Leone  a 
crew  of  twelve  Kroomen  was  engaged  and  taken  on  board 
for  the  navigation  of  the  "  Ma-Robert,"  after  it  should 
reach  the  Zambesi.  On  their  leaving  Sierra  Leone, 
the  weather  became  very  rough,  and  from  the  state  of 
Mrs.  Livingstone's  health,  inclining  very  much  to  fever, 
it- was  deemed  necessary  that  she,  with  Oswell,  should  be 
left  at  the  Cape,  go  to  Kuruman  for  a  time,  and  after  her 


246  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xii. 

coming  confinement,  join  her  husband  on  the  Zambesi  in 
1860.  "This,"  says  Livingstone  in  his  Journal,  "is  a 
great  trial  to  me,  for  had  she  come  on  with  us,  she  might 
have  proved  of  essential  service  to  the  Expedition  in  case 
of  sickness  or  otherwise  ;  but  it  may  all  turn  out  for  the 
best."  It  was  the  first  disappointment,  and  it  was  but 
partially  balanced  by  his  learning  from  Dr.  Moffat,  who, 
with  his  wife,  met  them  at  the  Cape,  that  he  had  made 
out  his  visit  to  Mosilikatse,  and  had  learned  that  the 
men  whom  Livingstone  had  left  at  Tette  had  not  returned 
home,  so  that  they  would  still  be  waiting  for  him  there. 
He  knew  of  what  value  they  would  be  to  him  in  explain- 
ing his  intentions  to  the  natives.  From  Sir  George  Grey, 
the  excellent  Governor  of  the  Cape,  and  the  inhabitants 
of  Cape  Town  generally,  the  expedition  met  with  an 
unusually  cordial  reception.  At  a  great  meeting  at  the 
Exchange,  a  silver  box  containing  a  testimonial  of  eight 
hundred  guineas  was  presented  to  Livingstone  by  the 
Governor ;  and  two  days  after,  a  grand  dinner  was  given 
to  the  members  of  the  Expedition,  the  Attorney-General 
being  in  the  chair.  Mr.  Maclear  was  most  enthusiastic 
in  the  reception  of  his  friend,  and  at  the  public  meeting 
had  so  much  to  say  about  hira  that  he  could  hardly  be 
brought  to  a  close.'^'-'^lt  must  have  been  highly  amusing 
to  Livingstone  to  contrast  Cape  Town  in  1852  with  Cape 
Town  in  1858.  In  1852,  he  was  so  suspected  that  he 
could  hardly  get  a  pound  of  gunpowder  or  a  box  of  caps 
Vv'hile  preparing  for  his  unprecedented  journey,  and  he 
had  to  pay  a  heavy  fine  to  get  rid  of  a  cantankerous  post- 
master. Now  he  returns  with  the  Queen's  gold  band 
round  his  cap,  and  with  brighter  decorations  round  his 
name  than  Sovereigns  can  give ;  and  all  Cape  Town 
hastens  to  honour  him.  It  was  a  great  victory,  as  it  was 
also  a  striking  illustration  of  the  world's  ways. 

It  is  not  our  object  to  follow  Dr.  Livingstone  into  all 
the  details  of  his  expedition,  but  merely  to  note  a  few  of 


1858-59.]  THE  ZAMBESI.  247 

the  more  salient  points,  in  connection  with  the  oppor- 
tunities it  aiforded  for  the  achievement  of  his  object  and 
the  development  of  his  character.  It  may  be  well  to 
note  here  generally  how  the  years  were  occupied.  The 
remainder  of  1858  was  employed  in  exploring  the  mouths 
of  the  Zambesi,  and  the  river  itself  up  to  Tette  and  the 
Kebrabasa  liapids,  a  few  miles  beyond.  Next  year — 1859 
— was  devoted  mainly  to  three  successive  trips  on  the  river 
Shire,  the  third  being  signalised  by  the  discovery  of 
Lake  Nyassa.  In  1860,  Livingstone  went  back  with  his 
Makololo  up  the  Zambesi  to  the  territories  of  Sekeletu. 
In  1861,  after  exploring  the  river  Rovuma,  and  assisting 
Bishop  Mackenzie  to  begin  the  Universities'  Mission,  he 
started  for  Lake  Nyassa,  returning  to  the  ship  towards 
the  end  of  the  year.  In  1862  occurred  the  death  of  the 
Bishop  and  other  missionaries,  and  also,  during  a  deten- 
tion at  Shupanga,  the  death  of  Mrs.  Livingstone  :  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  year  Livingstone  again  explored  the 
Bovuma.,  In  1863  he  was  again  exploring  the  Shire 
valley  and  Lake  Nyassa,  when  an  order  came  from  Her 
Majesty's  Government,  recalling  the  Expedition.  In  1864 
he  started  in  the  "  Lady  Nyassa"  for  Bombay,  and  thence 
returned  to  Eng^land. 

On  the  1st  May  1858  the  "  Pearl"  sailed  from  Simon's 
Bay,  and  on  the  14th  stood  in  for  the  entrance  to  the 
Zambesi,  called  the  West  Luabo,  or  Hoskins'  Branch.  Of 
their  progress  Dr.  Livingstone  gives  his  impressions  in 
the  following  letter  to  his  friend  Mr.  James  T  oung : — 

"  '  Peakl,'  10i!/i  May  1858. 
"Here  Ave  are,  off  Cape  Corrientes  ('"Whaur's  that,  I  wonnerf), 
and  hope  to  be  off  the  Luabo  four  days  hence.  We  have  been  most 
remarkably  favoured  in  the  weather,  and  it  is  well,  for  had  our  ship 
been  in  a  gale  with  all  this  weight  on  her  deck,  it  would  have  been 
perilous.  Mrs.  Livingstone  was  sea-sick  all  the  way  from  Sierra 
Leone,  and  got  as  thin  as  a  lath.  As  this  was  accompanied  by  fever 
I  was  forced  to  run  into  Table  Bay,  and  when  I  got  ashore  I  found 
her  father  and  mother  down  all  the  way  from  Kururaan  to  see  us  and 
help  the  young  missionaries,  whom  the  London  Missionary  Society 


248  DA  VID  LIVINGSTOXE.  [chap.  xii. 

lias  not  yet  sent.  Glad,  of  course,  to  see  the  old  couple  again,  "We 
liad  a  grand  to-do  at  the  Cape.  Eight  hundred  guineas  were  pre- 
sented in  a  silver  box  by  the  hand  of  the  Governor,  Sir  George  Grey, 
a  tine  fellow.  Sure,  no  one  might  be  more  thankful  to  the  Giver  of 
all  than  myself.  The  Lord  grant  me  grace  to  serve  Him  with  heart 
and  soul — the  only  return  I  can  make  !  ...  It  Avas  a  bitter  parting 
with  my  Avife,  like  tearing  the  heart  out  of  one.  It  was  so  unexpected ; 
and  now  we  are  screwing  away  up  the  coast.  .  .  .  We  are  all  agree- 
able yet,  and  all  looking  forward  Avitli  ardour  to  our  enterprise.  It  is 
likely  that  I  shall  come  down  with  the  'Pearl'  through  the  Delta  to 
doctor  them  if  they  become  ill,  and  send  them  on  to  Ceylon  with  a 
blessing.  All  have  behaved  well,  and  I  am  really  thankful  to  see  it, 
and  hope  that  God  will  graciously  make  some  better  use  of  us  in 
promoting  His  glory.  I  met  a  Dr.  King  in  Simon's  Bay,  of  the 
'  Cambrian'  frigate,  one  of  our  class-mates  in  the  Andersonian.  This 
frigate,  by  the  way,  saluted  us  handsomely  when  we  sailed  out.  We 
have  a  man-of-Avar  to  help  us  (the  '  Hermes'),  but  the  lazy  muff  is  far 
behind.      He  is,  however,  to  carry  our  despatches  to  Quilimane.  .  .  ." 

A  lettei'  to  Dr.  Moffat  lets  us  know  in  what  manner  he 
was  preparing  to  teach  the  twelve  Kroomen  who  were  to 
navigate  the  "  Ma-Robert/'  and  his  old  Makololo  men  : — 

"  First  of  all,  supposing  Mr.  Skead  should  take  this  back  by  the 
*  Hermes '  in  time  to  catch  you  at  the  Cape,  would  you  be  kind 
enough  to  get  a  form  of  prayer  printed  for  me  %  We  have  twelve 
Kroomen,  who  seem  docile  and  Avilling  to  be  taught ;  Avhen  Ave  are 
parted  from  the  '  Pearl '  Ave  shall  have  prayers  Avith  them  every 
morning.  ...  I  think  it  Avill  be  an  advantage  to  liaA'e  the  prayers 
in  Sichuana  Avhen  my  men  join  us,  and  if  Ave  have  a  selection  from 
the  English  Litany,  Avith  the  Lord's  Prayer  in  Sichuana,  all  may  join. 
Will  you  translate  it,  beginning  at  '  Kemember  not.  Lord,  our  offences,' 
up  to  'the  right  Avay' ]  Thence,  petition  for  chiefs,  and  on  to  the 
end.  .  .  .  The  Litany  need  not  be  literal.  I  suppose  you  are  not  a 
rabid  nonconformist,  or  else  I  Avould  not  venture  to  ask  this.  .  .  ." 

By  the  time  they  reached  the  mouth  of  the  Zambesi, 
Livinc]fstone  was  sufieriugf  from  a  severe  attack  of  diarrhoea. 
On  the  IGth  of  May,  being  Sunday,  while  still  suffering, 
he  deemed  it  a  work  of  necessity,  in  order  to  get  as  soon 
as  possible  out  of  the  fever-breeding  region  of  mangrove 
swamps  where  they  had  anchored,  that  they  should  at 
once  remove  the  sections  of  the  "  Ma-Robert"  from  the 
"Pearl;"    accordingly,  with  the   exception   of  the  time 


1858-59-]  THE  ZAMBESI.  249 

occupied  in  the  usual  prayers,  tliat  day  was  spent  in 
labour.  His  constant  regard  for  the  day  of  rest  and 
great  unwilliDgness  to  engage  in  labour  then,  is  the  best 
proof  that  on  this  occasion  the  necessity  for  working 
was  to  his  mind  absolutely  irresistible.  He  had  found 
that  active  exercise  every  day  was  one  of  the  best  pre- 
ventives of  fever ;  certainly  it  is  very  remarkable  how 
thoroughly  the  men  of  the  Expedition  escaped  it  at  this 
time.  In  his  Journal  he  says  : — ''  After  the  experience 
gained  by  Dr.  M' William,  and  communicated  to  the 
world  in  his  admirable  Mediccd  History  of  the  Niger 
Expedition,  I  should  have  considered  myself  personally 
guilty  had  any  of  the  crew  of  the  '  Pearl'  or  of  the 
Expedition  been  cut  off  through  delay  in  the  man- 
grove swamps."  Afterwards,  when  Mrs.  Livingstone  died 
during  a  long  but  unavoidable  delay  at  Shupanga,  a 
little  farther  up,  he  was  more  than  ever  convinced  that 
he  had  acted  rightly.  But  some  of  his  friends  were 
troubled,  and  many  reflections  were  thrown  on  him, 
especially  by  those  who  bore  him  no  good-will. 

The  first  important  fact  in  the  history  of  the  Expedi- 
tion was  the  discovery  of  the  advantages  of  the  Kongone 
entrance  of  the  Zambesi,  the  best  of  all  the  mouths  of 
the  river  for  navigation.  Soon  after,  a  site  was  fixed  on 
as  a  depot,  and  while  the  luggage  and  stores  were  being 
landed  at  it,  there  occurred  an  unfortunate  collision  with 
the  naval  oflnicer,  who  tendered  his  resignation.  At  first 
Livingstone  declined  to  accept  of  it,  but  on  its  being 
tendered  a  second  time  he  allowed  the  oflicer  to  go.  It 
vexed  him  to  the  last  desfree  to  have  this  difference  so 
early,  nor  did  he  part  with  the  officer  without  much  for- 
bearance and  anxiety  to  ward  off  the  breach.  In  bis 
despatches  to  Government  the  whole  circumstances  were 
fully  detailed.  Letters  to  Mr.  Maclear  and  other  private 
friends  give  a  still  more  detailed  narrative.  In  a  few 
quarters   blame   was   cast  upon    him,    and  in   the   Cape 


2SO  DAVID  MVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xii. 

newspapers  the  affair  was  much  commented  on.  In  due 
time  there  came  a  reply  from  Lord  Mahnesbury,  then 
Foreign  Secretary,  dated  26th  April  1859,  to  the  effect 
that  after  full  inquiry  by  himself,  and  after  consulting  with 
the  Admiralty,  his  opinion  was  that  the  officer  had  failed 
to  clear  himself,  and  that  Dr.  Livingstone's  proceedings 
were  fully  approved.  Livingstone  had  received  authority 
to  stop  the  pay  of  any  member  of  the  expedition  that 
should  prove  unsatisfactory ;  this,  of  course,  subjected 
his  conduct  to  the  severer  criticism. 

When  the  officer  left,  Livingstone  calmly  took  his 
place,  adding  the  charge  of  the  ship  to  his  other  duties. 
This  step  would  appear  alike  rash  and  presumptuous,  did 
we  not  know  that  he  never  undertook  any  work  without 
full  deliberation,  and  did  we  not  remember  that  in  the 
course  of  three  sea- voyages  which  he  had  performed  he 
had  had  opportunities  of  seeing  how  a  ship  was  managed 
— opportunities  of  which  no  doubt,  with  his  great  activity 
of  mind,  he  had  availed  himself  most  thoroughly.  The 
facility  with  which  he  could  assume  a  new  function,  and 
do  its  duties  as  if  he  had  been  accustomed  to  it  all  his 
life,  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable  things  about  him. 
His  chief  regret  in  taking  the  new  burden  was,  that  it 
would  limit  his  intercourse  with  the  natives,  and  prevent 
•  him  from  doing  as  much  missionary  work  as  he  desired. 
Writing  soon  after  to  Miss  Whately  of  Dublin,  he  says  : 
"  It  was  imagined  we  could  not. help  ourselves,  but  I  took 
the  task  of  navigating  on  myself,  and  have  conducted 
the  steamer  over  1600  miles,  though  as  far  as  my  likings 
go  I  would  as  soon  drive  a  cab  in  November  fogs  in 
London,  as  be  '  skipper '  in  this  hot  sun ;  but  I  shall  go 
through  with  it  as  a  duty."  To  his  friend  Mr.  Young 
he  makes  humorous  reference  to  his  awkwardness  in 
nautical  language  :  "  My  great  difficulty  is  calling  out 
'  starboard '  when  I  mean  '  j)ort,'  and  feeling  crusty  when 
I  see  the  helmsman  putting  the  helm  the  wrong  way." 


1858-59.]  THE  ZAMBESI.  251 

Another  difficulty  arose  from  the  state  of  the  country 
north  of  the  Zambesi,  in  consequence  of  the  natives  having 
rebelled  against  the  Portuguese  and  being  in  a  state 
of  war.  Livingstone  was  cautioned  that  he  would  be 
attacked  if  he  ventured  to  penetrate  into  the  country. 
He  resolved  to  keep  out  of  the  quarrel  but  to  push  on  in 
spite  of  it.  At  one  time,  his  party,  being  mistaken  for 
Portuguese,  were  on  the  point  of  being  fired  on,  but  on 
Livingstone  shouting  out  that  they  were  English  the 
natives  let  them  alone.  On  reaching  Tette  he  found  his  ' 
old  followers  in  ecstasies  at  seeing  him ;  the  Portuguese 
Government  had  done  nothing  for  them,  but  Major  Sicard, 
the  excellent  Governor  of  Tette,  had  helped  them  to  find 
employment,  and  maintain  themselves.  Thirty  had  died 
of  small-pox ;  six  had  been  killed  by  an  unfriendly  chief 
When  the  survivors  saw  Dr.  Livingstone  they  said  :  "  Tbo 
Tette  people  often  taunted  us  by  saying,  '  Your  English- 
man will  never  return  ;'  but  we  trusted  you,  and  now  we 
shall  sleep."  It  gave  Livingstone  a  new  hold  on  them 
and  on  the  natives  generally,  that  he  had  proved  true  to  ^ 
his  promise,  and  had  come  back  as  he  had  said.  As  the 
men  had  found  ways  of  living  at  Tette,  Livingstone  was 
not  obliged  to  take  them  to  their  home  immediately. 

One  of  his  first  endeavours  after  reaching  Tette  was 
to  ascertain  how  far  the  navigation  of  the  Zambesi  was 
impeded  by  the  rapids  at  Kebrabasa,  between  twenty 
and  thirty  miles  above  Tette,  which  he  had  heard  of  but 
not  seen  on  his  journey  from  Linyanti  to  Quilimane. 
The  distance  was  short  and  the  enterprise  apparently 
easy,  but  in  reality  it  presented  such  difficulties  as  only 
his  dogged  perseverance  could  have  overcome.  After  he 
had  been  twice  at  the  rapids,  and  when  he  believed  he 
had  seen  the  whole,  he  accidentally  learned,  after  a  day's 
march  on  the  way  home,  that  there  was  another  rapid 
which  he  had  not  yet  seen.  Determined  to  see  all,  he 
returned,  with  Dr.  Kirk  and  four  Makololo,  and  it  was 


252  DA  VI D  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xii. 

on  this  occasion  that  his  followers,  showing  the  blisters 
on  their  feet  burst  by  the  hot  rocks,  told  him,  when  he 
urged  them  to  make  another  effort,  that  hitherto  they 
had  always  believed  he  had  a  heart,  but  now  they  saw  he 
had  none,  and  wondered  if  he  were  mad.  Leaving  them, 
he  and  Dr.  Kirk  pushed  on  alone ;  but  their  boots  and 
clothes  were  destroyed ;  in  three  hours  they  made  but  a 
mile.  Next  day,  however,  they  gained  their  point  and 
saw  the  rapid.  It  was  plain  to  Dr.  Livingstone  that  had 
he  taken  this  route  in  1856,  instead  of  through  the  level 
Shidina  country,  he  must  have  perished.  The  party  were 
of  opinion  that  when  the  river  was  in  full  flood,  the  rapids 
might  be  navigated,  and  this  opinion  w^as  confirmed  on  a 
subsequent  visit  paid  by  Mr.  Charles  Livingstone  and 
Mr.  Baines  during  the  rainy  season.  But  the  ' '  Ma-Bobert" 
with  its  single  engine  had  not  power  to  make  way.  It 
was  resolved  to  apply  to  Her  Majesty's  Government  for  a 
more  suitable  vessel  to  carry  them  up  the  country,  stores 
and  all.  Until  the  answer  should  come  to  this  applica- 
tion. Dr.  Livingstone  could  not  return  with  his  Makololo 
to  their  own  country. 

While  making  this  application,  he  was  preparing 
another  string  for  his  bow.  He  wrote  to  his  friend,  Mr. 
James  Young,  that  if  Government  refused,  he  w^ould  get 
a  vessel  at  his  own  expense,  and  in  a  succession  of  letters 
authorised  him  to  spend  £2000  of  his  own  money  in  the 
purchase  of  a  suitable  ship.  Eventually,  both  suggestions 
were  carried  into  effect.  The  Government  gave  the 
"Pioneer"  for  the  navigation  of  the  Zambesi  and  lower 
Shire  ;  Livingstone  procured  the  "  Lady  Nyassa"  for  the 
Lake  (where,  however,  she  never  floated),  but  the  cost  was 
more  than  £0000 — the  greater  part,  indeed,  of  the  profits 
of  his  book. 

The  "  Ma-Bobert,"  which  had  promised  so  well  at  first, 
now  turned  out  a  great  disappointment.  Her  consump- 
tion of  fuel  was  enormous  ;  her  furnace  had  to  be  lighted 


1858-59]     FIRST  EXPLORATIONS  OF  THE  SHIRE.        253 

hours  before  the  steam  was  serviceable ;  she  snorted  so 
horribly  that  they  called  her  "  The  Asthmatic,"  and  after 
all  she  made  so  little  progress  that  canoes  could  easily 
pass  her.  Having  taken  much  interest  in  the  purchase 
of  the  vessel,  and  thought  he  was  getting  a  great  bargain 
because  its  owner  professed  to  do  so  much  through  "  love 
of  the  cause,"  Livingstone  was  greatly  mortified  when 
he  found  he  had  got  an  inferior  and  unworthy  article ; 
and  many  a  joke  he  made,  as  well  as  remarks  of  a  more 
serious  kind,  in  connection  with  the  manner  which  the 
"  eminent  shipbuilder"  had  taken  to  show  his  love. 

Early  in  1859  the  exploration  of  the  Shire  was  begun 
— a  river  hitherto  absolutely  unknown.  The  country 
around  was  rich  and  fertile,  the  natives  not  unfriendly, 
but  suspicious.  They  had  probably  never  been  visited 
before  but  by  man-stealers,  and  had  never  seen  Europeans. 
The  Shire  valley  w^as  inhabited  by  the  Manganja,  a  very 
warlike  race.  Some  days'  journey  above  the  junction 
w4th  the  Zambesi,  where  the  Shire  issues  from  the 
mountains,  the  progress  of  the  party  was  stopped  by 
rapids,  to  which  they  gave  the  name  of  the  "  Murchison 
Cataracts."  It  seemed  in  vain  to  penetrate  among  the 
people  at  that  time  without  supphes,  considering  how 
suspicious  they  were.  Crowds  went  along  the  banks 
watching  them  by  day  ;  they  had  guards  over  them  all 
nigl>t,  and  these  were  always  ready  with  their  bows  and 
poisoned  arrows.  Nevertheless,  some  progress  was  made 
in  civilising  them,  and  at  a  future  time  it  was  hoped  that 
further  exploration  might  take  place. 

Some  passages  in  Livingstone's  private  Journal  give 
us  a  glimpse  of  the  more  serious  thoughts  that  were 
passing  through  his  mind  at  this  time  : — 

^^  March  3,  1859. — If  we  dedicate  ourselves  to  God  unreservedly 
He  Avill  make  use  of  whatever  peculiarities  of  constitution  He  has 
imparted  for  His  own  glory,  anc^  He  will  in  answer  to  prayer  give 
wisdom  to  guide.     He  will  so  guide  as  to  make  useful.     0  how  far 


2  54  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xii. 

am  I  from  that  hearty  devotion  to  God  I  read  of  iu  otliers !  The  Lord 
have  mercy  on  me  a  sinner !" 

"  March  5th. — A  woman  left  Tette  yesterday  with  a  cargo  of  slaves 
(20  men  and  40  women)  in  irons  to  sell  to  St.  Cruz  [a  trader],  for  ex- 
portation at  Bourbon.  Francisco  at  Shupanga  is  the  great  receiver  for 
Cruz.     This  is  carnival,  and  it  is  observed  chiefly  as  a  drinking  feast." 

"March  Gth. — Teaching  Makololo  Lord's  Prayer  and  Creed.  Prayers 
as  usual  at  9^  A.M.  When  employed  in  active  travel,  my  mind 
becomes  inactive,  and  the  heart  cold  and  dead,  but  after  remaining 
some  time  quiet,  the  heart  revives  and  I  become  more  spiritually- 
minded.  This  is  a  mercy  which  T  have  experienced  before,  and  when 
I  see  a  matter  to  be  duty  I  go  on  regardless  of  my  feelings.  I  do 
trust  that  the  Lord  is  with  me,  though  the  mind  is  engaged  in  other 
matters  than  the  spiritual,  I  want  my  whole  life  to  be  out  and  out 
for  the  Divine  glory,  and  my  earnest  praj^er  is  that  God  may  accept 
what  His  own  Spirit  must  have  implanted — the  desire  to  glorify  Him. 
I  have  been  more  than  usually  drawn  out  in  earnest  prayer  of  late — 
for  the  Expedition — for  my  family — the  fear  lest 's  misrepre- 
sentation may  injure  the  cause  of  Christ — the  hope  that  I  may  be 
permitted  to  open  this  dark  land  to  the  blessed  gospel.  I  have  cast 
all  before  my  God.  Good  Lord,  have  mercy  upon  me.  Leave  me 
not,  nor  forsake  me.  He  has  guided  well  in  time  past.  I  commit  my 
Avay  to  Him  for  the  future.  All  I  have  received  has  come  from  Him. 
Will  He  be  pleased  in  mercy  to  use  me  for  His  glory  ]  I  have  prayed 
for  this,  and  Jesus  himself  said,  'Ask,  and  ye  shall  receive,'  and  a  host 
of  statements  to  the  same  eftect.  There  is  a  great  deal  of  trifling 
frivolousness  in  not  trusting  in  God.  Not  trusting  in  Him  who  is 
truth  itself,  faithfulness,  the  same  yesterday,  to-day,  and  for  ever ! 
It  is  presumption  not  to  trust  in  Him  implicitly,  and  yet  this  heart  is 
sometimes  fearfully  guilty  of  distrust.  I  am  ashamed  to  think  of  it. 
Ay ;  but  He  must  put  the  trusting,  loving,  childlike  spirit  in  by  His 
grace.  0  Lord,  I  am  Thine,  truly  I  am  Thine — take  me — do  what 
seemeth  good  in  Thy  sight  with  me,  and  give  me  complete  resignation 
to  Thy  will  in  all  things." 

Two  months  later  (May  1859),  a  second  ascent  of 
the  Shire  was  performed,  and  friendly  relations  were 
estabUshed  with  a  clever  chief  named  Chibisa,  "  a  jolly 
person,  who  laughs  easily — which  is  always  a  good  sign." 
Chibisa  believed  firmly  in  two  things — the  divine  right 
of  kings,  and  the  impossibility  that  Chibisa  should  ever 
be  in  the  wrong.  He  told  them  that  his  father  had 
imparted  an  influence  to  him,  which  had  come  in  by  his 
head,  whereby  every  person  that  heard  him  speak  re- 


1 8s 8-5 9-]      FIRST  EXPLORATIONS  OF  THE  SHIRE:       255 

spected  him  greatly.  Livingstone  evidently  made  a 
great  impression  on  Chibisa ;  like  other  chiefs,  he  began 
to  fall  under  the  spell  of  his  influence. 

Making  a  detour  to  the  east,  the  travellers  now 
discovered  Lake  Shirwa,  "  a  magnificent  inland  lake." 
This  lake  was  absolutely  imknown  to  the  Portuguese, 
who,  indeed,  were  never  allowed  by  the  natives  to  enter 
the  Shire.  Livingstone  had  often  to  explain  that  he  and 
his  party  were  not  Portuguese  but  British.  After  dis- 
covering this  lake,  the  party  returned  to  the  ship,  and 
then  sailed  to  the  Kongone  harbour,  in  hojDes  of  meeting 
a  man-of-war,  and  obtaining  provisions.  Li  this,  how- 
ever, they  were  disappointed. 

Some  idea  of  the  voluminous  correspondence  carried  on 
by  Dr.  Livingstone  may  be  formed  from  the  .following 
enumeration  of  the  friends  to  whom  he  addressed  letters  Y 
in  May  of  this  year  : — Lords  Clarendon  and  Palmerston, 
Bishop  of  Oxford,  Miss  Burdett  Coutts,  Mr.  Venn,  Lord 
Kinnaird,  Mr.  James  Wilson,  Mr.  Oswell,  Colonel  Steele, 
Dr.  Newton  of  Philadelphia,  his  brother  John  in  Canada, 
J.  B.  and  C.  Braithw^aite,  Dr.  Andrew  Smith,  Admiral 
F.  Grey,  Sir  B.  Murchison,  Captain  Washington,  Mr. 
Maclear,  Professor  Owen,  Major  Yardon,  Mrs.  Living- 
stone, Viscount  Goderich. 

Here  is  the  account  he  gave  of  his  proceedings  to  his 
little  daughter  Agnes  : — 

'^  River  Shird,  1st  June  1859. — "We  have  been  down  to  the  mouth  of 
the  river  Zambesi  in  expectation  of  meeting  a  man-of-war  with  salt 
provisions,  but,  none  appearing  on  the  day  appointed,  we  coudude  that 
the  Admiral  has  not  received  my  letters  in  time  to  send  her.  We  have 
no  post-office  here,  so  we  buried  a  bottle  containing  a  letter  on  an 
island  in  the  entrance  to  Kongone  harbour.  This  we  told  the  Admiral 
we  should  do  in  case  of  not  meeting  a  cruiser,  and  whoever  comes 
will  search  for  our  bottle  and  see  another  appointment  for  30th  of 
July.  This  goes  with  despatches  by  way  of  Quilimane,  and  I  hope 
some  day  to  get  from  you  a  letter  by  the  same  route.  We  have  got 
no  news  from  home  since  we  left  Liverpool,  and  Ave  long  now  to  hear 
how  all  goes   on  in  Europe   and  in  India,     I  am  now  on  my  Avay 


256  DAVW  LIVINGSTONE,  [chap.  xii. 

to  Tette,  but  we  ran  up  tlie  Shir6  some  forty  miles  to  buy  rice  for  our 
company.  Uncle  Charles  is  there.  He  has  had  some  fever,  but  is 
better.  "We  left  him  there  about  two  months  ago,  and  Dr.  Kirk  and  I, 
■with  some  fifteen  Makoiolo,  ascended  this  river  one  hundred  miles  in 
the  '  Ma-Robert,'  then  left  the  vessel  and  proceeded  beyond  that  on  foot 
till  we  had  discovered  a  magnificent  lake  called  Shirvva  (pronounced 
Shurwah).  It  was  very  grand,  for  we  could  not  see  the  end  of  it, 
though  some  way  up  a  mountain  ;  and  all  around  it  are  mountains 
much  higher  than  any  you  see  in  Scotland.  One  mountain  stands  in 
the  lake,  and  people  live  on  it.  Another  called  Zomba  is  more  than 
six  thousand  feet  high,  and  people  live  on  it  too,  for  Ave  could  see  their 
gardens  on  its  top,  which  is  larger  than  from  Glasgow  to  Hamilton,  or 
about  from  fifteen  to  eighteen  miles.  The  country  is  quite  a  Highland 
region,  and  many  people  live  in  it.  Most  of  them  were  afraid  of  us. 
The  women  ran  into  their  huts  and  shut  the  doors.  The  children 
screamed  in  terror,  and  even  the  hens  would  fly  away  and  leave  their 
chickens.  I  suppose  you  would  be  frightened  too  if  you  saw  strange 
creatures,  say  a  lot  of  Trundlemen,  like  those  on  the  Isle  of  Man 
pennies,  come  Avhirling  up  the  street.  No  one  was  impudent  to  us 
except  some  slave-traders,  but  they  became  civil  as  soon  as  they 
learned  Ave  Avere  English  and  not  Portuguese.  We  saAV  the  sticks 
they  employ  for  training  any  one  Avhom  they  have  just  bought.     One 

is  about  eight  feet  long,  the 
head,  or  neck  rather,  is  put 
into  the  space  between  the 
dotted  lines  and  shaft,  and 
another  slave  carries  the  end. 
When  they  are  considered  tame  they  are  alloAved  to  go  in  chains. 

"  I  am  Avorking  in  the  hope  that  in  the  course  of  time  this  horrid 
system  may  cease.  All  the  country  Ave  travelled  through  is  capable  of 
groAving  cotton  and  sugar,  and  the  people  now  cultivate  a  good  deal. 
They  Avould  groAV  much  more  if  they  could  only  sell  it.  At  present 
Ave  in  England  are  the  mainstay  of  slavery  in  America  and  elseAvhere 
by  buying  slave-groAvn  produce.  Here  there  are  hundreds  of  miles  of 
land  lying  Avaste,  and  so  rich  that  the  grass  toAvers  far  over  one's  head 
in  Avalking.  You  cannot  see  AAdaere  the  narroAv  paths  end,  the  grass  is 
so  tall  and  overhangs  them  so.  If  our  countrymen  Avere  here  they 
Avould  soon  render  slave-buying  unprofitable.  Perhaps  God  may 
honour  us  to  open  up  the  Avay  for  this.  My  heart  is  sore  Avhen  I 
think  of  so  many  of  our  countrymen  in  poverty  and  misery,  Avhile 
they  might  be  doing  so  much  good  to  themselves  and  others  Avhere  our 
Heavenly  Father  has  so  abundantly  provided  fruitful  hills  and  fertile 
valleys.  If  our  people  Avere  out  here  they  Avould  not  need  to  cultivate 
little  snatches  by  the  side  of  raihvays  as  they  do.  But  all  is  in  the 
hands  of  the  all-Avise  Father.  "We  must  trust  that  He  Avill  bring  all 
out  right  at  last. 

"  My  dear  Agnes,  you  must  take  Him  to  be  your  Father  and  Guide. 


185S-59.]      FIRST  EXPLORATIONS  OF  THE  SHIRE.       257 

Tell  Him  all  that  is  in  your  heart,  and  make  Him  your  confidant. 
His  ear  is  ever  open,  and  He  despiseth  not  the  humblest  sigh.  He  is 
your  best  Friend,  and  loves  at  all  times.  It  is  not  enough  to  be  a 
servant,  you  must  be  a  friend  of  Jesus.  Love  Him  and  surrender 
your  entire  being  to  Him.  The  more  you  trust  Him,  casting  all  your 
care  upon  Him,  the  more  He  is  pleased,  and  He  "svill  so  guide  you 
that  your  life  will  be  for  His  own  glory.  The  Lord  be  with  you. 
]\Iy  kind  love  to  grandma  and  to  all  your  friends.  I  hope  your  eyes 
are  better,  and  that  you  are  able  to  read  books  for  yourself.  Tell  Tom 
that  we  caught  a  young  elephant  in  coming  down  the  Shire,  about  the 
size  of  the  largest  dog  he  ever  saAv,  but  one  of  the  Makololo,  in  a  state 
of  excitement,  cut  its  trunk,  so  that  it  bled  very  much,  and  died  in  two 
days.  Had  it  lived  we  should  have  sent  it  to  the  Queen,  as  no  African 
elephant  was  ever  seen  in  England.    No  news  from  mamma  and  Oswell." 

Another  evidence  of  tlie  place  of  his  childi^en  in  his 
thouorhts  is  found  in  the  foUowinof  Hnes  in  his  Journal : — 

"20th  June  1859. — I  cannot  and  will  not  attribute  any  of  the 
public  attention  which  has  been  awakened  to  my  own  wisdom  or 
ability.  The  great  Power  being  my  Helper,  I  shall  always  say  that 
.my  success  is  all  owing  to  His  favQur.  I  have  been  the  channel  of  the 
Divine  Power,  and  I  pray  that  His  gracious  influence  may  penetrate 
me  so  that  all  may  turn  to  the  advancement  of  His  gracious  reign  in 
this  fallen  world. 

"  Oh,  may  the  mild  influence  of  the  Eternal  Spirit  enter  the 
bosoms  of  my  children,  penetrate  their  souls,  and  diff"use  through  their 
whole  natures  the  everlasting  love  of  God  in  Jesus  Christ !  Holy, 
gracious,  almighty  PoAver,  I  hide  myself  in  Thee  through  Thy 
almighty  Son.  Take  my  children  under  Thy  care.  Purify  them  and 
fit  them  for  Thy  service.  Let  the  beams  of  the  Sun  of  Righteousness 
produce  spring,  summer,  and  harvest  in  them  for  Thee." 

The  short  trip  from  Kongone  to  Tette  and  back  was 
marked  by  some  changes  in  the  composition  of  the  party. 
The  Kroomen  being  found  to  be  useless,  were  shipped  on 
board  a  man-of-war.  The  sei^'ices  of  two  members  of  the 
expedition  were  also  dispensed  with,  as  they  were  not 
foimd  to  be  promoting  its  ends.  Livingstone  would  not 
pay  the  pubUc  money  to  men  who,  he  believed,  were  not 
thorouglily  earning  it.  To  these  troubles  was  added  the 
constantly  increasing  mortification  arising  from  the  state 
of  the  ship. 

It  has  sometimes  been  represented,  in  view  of  such 

R 


2s8  DA  VID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xii. 

facts  as  have  just  been  recorded,  that  Livingstone  was 
imperious  and  despotic  in  the  management  of  other  men, 
otherwise  he  and  his  comrades  would  have  got  pn  better 
together.  The  accusation,  even  at  fii'st  sight,  has  an  air 
of  improbability,  for  Livingstone's  nature  was  most  kindly, 
and  it  was  the  aim  of  his  life  to  increase  enjoyment.  In 
explanation  of  the  friction  on  board  his  ship  it  must  be 
remembered  that  his  party  were  a  sort  of  scratch  crew 
brought  together  without  previous  acquaintance  or  know- 
ledge of  each  other's  ways ;  that  the  heat  and  the 
mosquitos,  the  delays,  the  stoppages  on  sandbanks,  the 
perpetual  struggle  for  fuel,^  the  monotony  of  existence, 
with  so  little  to  break  it,  and  the  irritating  mfluence  of 
the  climate,  did  not  tend  to  smooth  their  tempers  or 
increase  the  amenities  of  life.  The  malarious  chmate  had 
a  most  disturbing  effect.  No  one,  it  is  said,  who  has  not 
experienced  it,  could  imagine  the  sensation  of  misery 
connected  with  the  feverish  attacks  so  common  in  the  low 
districts.  And  Livingstone  had  difficulties  in  managing 
his  countrymen  wliich  he  had  not  in  managing  the  natives. 
He  was  so  conscientious,  so  deeply  in  earnest,  so  hard 
a  worker  himself,  that  he  could  endure  nothing  that 
seemed  like  playing  or  trifling  with  duty.  Sometimes, 
too,  things  were  harslily  represented  to  him,  on  which  a 
milder  construction  might  have  been  put.  One  of  those 
with  whom  he  parted  at  this  time  afterwards  rejoined 
f  the  Expedition,  his  pay  being  restored  on  Livingstone's 
^  intercession.  Those  who  continued  to  enjoy  his  friendship 
were  never  weary  of  speaking  of  his  dehghtful  quahties 
as  a  companion  in  travel,  and  the  warm  sunshine  which 
he  had  the  knack  of  spreading  around. 

A  thuxl  trip  up  the  Shne  was  made  in  August,  and 
on  the  16th  of  September  Lake  Nyassa  was  discovered. 
Livmgstone  had  no  doubt  that  he  and  his  party  were  the 

^  This  was  incredible.    Livingstone  -nrote  to  his  friend  Jose  Nunes  that  it  took 
all  hands  a  day  and  a  half  to  cut  one  day's  fuel. 


1858-59]      FIRST  EXPLORATIONS  OF  THE  SHIRE.       259 

disGoverers ;  Dr.  Roscher,  on  whose  behalf  a  claim  was 
subsequently  made,  was  two  months  later,  and  his  unfor- 
tunate murder  by  the  natives  made  it  doubtful  at  what 
point  he  reached  the  lake.  The  discovery  of  Lake 
Nyassa,  as  well  as  Lake  Shirwa,  was  of  immense  import- 
ance, because  they  were  both  parallel  to  the  ocean,  and 
the  whole  traffic  of  the  regions  beyond  must  pass  by  this 
line.  The  configuration  of  the  Shire  valley,  too,  was 
favourable  to  colonisation.  The  valley  occupied  three 
different  levels.  First  there  was  a  plain  on  the  level  of 
the  river,  like  that  of  the  Nile,  close  and  hot.  Rising 
above  this  to  the  east  there  was  another  plain,  2000  feet 
high,  three  or  four  miles  broad,  salubrious  and  pleasant. 
Lastly,  there  was  a  third  plain  3000  feet  above  the 
second,  positively  cold.  To  find  such  varieties  of  climate 
within  a  few  miles  of  each  other  was  most  interesting. 

In  other  respects  the  region  opened  up  was  remark- 
able. There  was  a  great  amount  of  fertile  land,  and  the 
products  were  almost  endless.  The  people  were  indus- 
trious ;  in  the  upper  Shir^,  notwithstanding  a  great  love 
of  beer,  they  lived  usually  to  a  great  age.  Cleanliness 
was  not  a  universal  virtue  ;  the  only  way  in  which  the 
Expedition  could  get  rid  of  a  troublesome  follower  was 
by  threatening  to  wash  him.  The  most  disagreeable 
thing  in  the  appearance  of  the  women  was  their  lip- 
ornament,  consisting  of  a  ring  of  ivory  or  tin,  either 
liollow  or  made  into  a  cup,  inserted  in  the  upper  lip. 
Dr.  Livingstone  used  to  give  full  particulars  of  this  fear- 
ful practice,  having  the  idea  that  the  taste  of  ladies  at 
home  in  dress  and  ornament  was  not  free  from  similar 
absurdity  ;  or,  a».  he  wrote  at  this  time  to  the  Royal 
Geographical  Society  of  Vienna,  in  acknowledging  the 
honour  of  being  made  a  corresponding  member, — "  be- 
cause our  own  ladies,  who  show  so  much  virtuous  perse- 
verance with  their  waists  may  wish  to  try  lip  ornament 
too."     In  regard  to  the  other  sex,  he  informed  the  same 


26o  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xii. 

Society — "I  could  see  nothing  encouraging  for  the  gentle- 
men who  are  anxious  to  prove  that  we  are  all  descended 
from  a  race  that  wore  tails." 

In  the  highland  regions  of  the  Shire  valley,  the 
party  were  distinctly  conscious  of  an  increase  of  energy, 
from  the  more  bracing  climate.  Dr.  Livingstone  was 
thoroughly  convinced  that  these  higlilands  of  the  Shke 
valley  were  the  proper  locahty  for  commercial  and  mis- 
sionary stations.  Thus  one  great  object  of  the  Expedition 
was  accomplished.  In  another  point  of  view,  this  locality 
would  be  highly  serviceable  for  stations.  It  was  the 
great  pathway  for  conveying  slaves  from  the  north  and 
north-west  to  Zanzibar.  Of  this  he  had  only  too  clear 
evidence  in  the  o-ano^s  of  slaves  whom  he  saw  marched 
along  from  time  to  time,  and  whom  he  would  have  been 
most  eager  to  release  had  he  known  of  any  way  of  pre- 
ventinof  them  from  fallinof  ao-ain  into  the  hands  of  slave- 
sellers.  In  this  region  Enghshmen  "  might  enjoy  good 
health,  and  also  be  of  signal  benefit,  by  leading  the  mul- 
titude of  industrious  inhabitants  to  cultivate  cotton, 
maize,  sugar,  and  other  valuable  produce,  to  exchange  for 
goods  of  European  manufacture,  at  the  same  time  teaching 
them,  by  precept  and  example,  the  great  truths  of  our 
holy  religion."  Water-carriage  existed  all  the  way  from 
England,  with  the  exception  of  the  Murchison  Cataracts, 
along  which  a  road  of  forty  miles  might  easily  be  made. 
A  small  steamer  on  the  lake  would  do  more  good  in  sup- 
pressing the  slave-trade  than  half-a-dozen  men-of-war  in 
the  ocean.  If  the  Zambesi  could  be  opened  to  commerce 
the  bright  vision  of  the  last  ten  years  would  be  realised, 
and  the  Shire  valley  and  banks  of  the  Nyassa  transformed 
into  the  garden  of  the  Lord. 
I  From  the  very  fii^st  Livingstone  saw  the  importance 

V  of  the  Sliire  valley  and  Lake  Nyassa  as  the  key  to 
Central  Africa.  Ever  since,  it  has  become  more  and 
more  evident  that  his  surmise  was  correct.     To  make  the 


1 85 8-5 9-]      FIRST  EXPLORATIONS  OF  THE  SHIRE.       261 

occupation  tliorouglily  effective,  he  thought  much  of  the 
desirableness  of  a  British  colony,  and  was  prepared  to 
expend  a  great  part  of  the  remainder  of  his  private  means 
to  carry  it  mto  effect.  On  August  4th,  he  says  in  his 
Joiu'nal : — 

"  1  liave  a  very  strong  desire  to  commence  a  system  of  colonisation 
of  the  honest  poor;  I  would  give  £2000  or  £3000  for  the  purpose. 
Intend  to  write  my  friend  Young  about  it,  and  authorise  him  to  draw 
if  the  project  seems  feasible.  The  Lord  remember  my  desire,  sanctify 
my  motives,  and  purify  all  my  desires.     AVrote  him. 

"  Colonisation  from  a  country  sucli  as  om's  ought  to  be  one  of  hope, 
and  not  of  despair.  It  ought  not  to  be  looked  upon  as  the  last  and 
worst  shift  that  a  family  can  come  to,  but  the  performance  of  an 
imperative  duty  to  our  blood,  our  country,  our  religion,  and  to  human- 
kind. As  soon  as  children  begin  to  be  felt  an  incumbrance,  and  what 
Avas  properly  in  ancient  times  Old  Testament  blessings  are  no  longer 
welcomed,  parents  ought  to  provide  for  removal  to  parts  of  this  wide 
w'orld  where  every  accession  is  an  addition  of  strength,  and  every 
member  of  the  household  feels  in  his  inmost  heart,  *  the  more  the 
merrier.'  It  is  a  monstrous  evil  that  all  our  healthy,  handy,  blooming 
daughters  of  England  have  not  a  fair  chance  at  least  to  become  the 
centres  of  domestic  affections.  The  state  of  society,  which  precludes  so 
many  of  them  from  occupying  the  position  which  Englishwomen  are  so 
well  calculated  to  adorn,  gives  rise  to  enormous  evils  in  the  opposite  sex 
— evils  and  wrongs  which  we  dare  not  even  name, — and  national 
colonisation  is  almost  the  only  remedy.  Englishwomen  are,  in  general, 
the  most  beautiful  in  the  world,  and  yet  our  national  emigi'ation  has 
often,  by  selecting  the  female  emigrants  from  workhouses,  sent  forth 
the  ugliest  huzzies  in  creation  to  be  the  mothers — the  model  mothers 
— of  new  empires.  Here,  as  in  other  cases.  State  necessities  have  led 
to  the  ill-formed  and  ill-informed  being  preferred  to  the  well-formed 
and  Avell-inclined  honest  poor,  as  if  the  worst  as  well  as  better  qualities 
of  mankind  did  not  often  run  in  the  blood." 

The  idea  of  the  colony  quite  fascinated  Livingstone, 
and  we  find  him  writing  on  it  fully  to  three  of  his  most 
confidential  business  friends — Mr.  Maclear,  Mr.  Young, 
and  Sir  Eoderick  Murchison.  In  all  Livingstone's  cor- 
respondence we  find  the  tone  of  his  letters  modified  by 
the  character  of  his  correspondents.  While  to  Mr.  Young 
and  Sir  Roderick  he  is  somewhat  cautious  on  the  subject 
of  the  colony",  knowing  the  keen  practical  eye  they  would 


262  DA  VID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xii. 

direct  on  the  proposal,  to  Mr.  Maclear  he  is  more  gusliing. 
He  writes  to  him  : — 

"  I  feel  such  a  gusli  of  emotion  on  thinking  of  the  great  work 
before  us  that  I  must  unhurden  my  mind.  I  am  becoming  every  day 
more  decidedly  convinced  that  English  colonisation  is  an  essential 
ingredient  for  our  large  success.  ...  In  this  new  region  of  Highlands 
no  end  of  good  could  be  effected  in  developing  the  trade  in  cotton  and 
in  discouraging  that  in  slaves.  .  .  .  You  know  how  I  have  been  led 
on  from  one  step  to  another  by  the  overruling  Providence  of  the  great 
Parent,  as  I  believe,  in  order  to  a  great  good  for  Africa.  '  Commit 
thy  way  unto  the  Lord,  trust  also  in  Him,  and  He  Avill  bring  it  to 
pass.'  I  have  tried  to  do  this,  and  now  see  the  prosjject  in  front 
spreading  out  grandly.  .  .  .  But  how  is  the  land  so  promising  to  be 
occupied  %  .  .  .  How  many  of  our  home  poor  are  fighting  hard  to  keep 
body  and  soul  together !  My  heart  yearns  over  our  own  poor  when  I 
see  so  much  of  God's  fair  earth  unoccupied.  Here  it  is  really  so ;  for 
the  people  have  only  a  few  sheep  and  goats,  and^  no  cattle.  I  Avonder 
Avhy  Ave  cannot  have  the  old  monastery  system  without  the  celibacy. 
In  no  other  part  Avhere  I  have  been  does  the  prospect  of  self-support 
seem  so  inviting,  and  promising  so  much  influence.  Most  of  Avhat  is 
done  for  the  poor  has  especial  reference  to  the  blackguard  poor." 

In  his  letter  to  Mr.  Young  he  expressed  his  convic- 
tion that  a  great  desideratum  in  mission  agency  was 
missionary  emigration  by  honest  Christian  poor  to  give 
living  examples  of  Christian  Hfe  that  would  insure  per- 
manency to  the  gospel  once  planted.  He  had  always  had 
a  warm  side  to  the  English  and  Scottish  poor — his  Qivn\ 
order,  indeed.  If  twenty  or  thirty  families  would  come 
out  as  an  experiment,  he  was  ready  to  give  £2000  without 
saying  from  whom.  He  bids  Mr.  Young  speak  about  the 
plan  to  Thom  of  Chorley,  Turner  of  Manchester,  Lord 
Shaftesbury,  and  the  Duke  of  Argyll,  "  Now,  my  friend," 
he  adds,  "  do  your  best,  and  God's  blessing  be  with  you. 
Much  is  done  for  the  blackguard  poor.  Let  us  remember 
our  own  class,  and  do  good  w^hile  we  have  opportunity. 
I  hereby  authorise  you  to  act  in  my  behalf,  and  do  what- 
ever is  to  be  done  without  hesitancy." 

These  letters,  and  their  references  to  the  honest 
poor,  are  characteristic.     We  have  seen  that  among  Dr. 


1S58-59.]      FIRST  EXPLORATIONS  OF  THE  SHIRE.       263 

Livingstone's  forefathers  and  connections  were  some  very 
noble  specimens  of  the  honest  poor.  It  touched  him  to 
think  that,  with  all  their  worth,  their  life  had  been  one 
protracted  struggle.  His  sympathies  were  cordially  with 
the  class.  He  desired  with  all  his  heart  to  see  them  with 
a  little  less  of  the  burden  and  more  of  the  comfort  of 
life.  And  he  believed  very  thoroughly  that,  as  Christian 
settlers  in  a  heathen  country,  they  might  do  more  to 
promote  Christianity  among  the  natives  than  solitary 
missionaries  could  accomplish. 

His  parents  and  sisters  were  not  forgotten.  His  letters 
to  home  are  again  somewhat  in  the  apologetic  vein.  He 
feels  that  some  explanation  must  be  given  of  his  own 
work,  and  some  vindication  of  his  coadjutors  : — 

"  We  are  working  hard,"  he  writes  to  his  mother,  "  at  what  some 
can  see  at  a  glance  the  importance  of,  while  to  others  we  appear 
following  after  the  glory  of  discovering  lakes,  mountains,  jenny-nettles, 
and  puddock-stools.  In  reference  to  these  people  I  always  remember 
a  story  told  me  by  the  late  Dr.  Philip  Avith  great  glee.  "When  a  young 
minister  in  Aberdeen,  he  visited  an  old  woman  in  affliction,  and  began 
to  talk  very  fair  to  her  on  the  duty  of  resignation,  trusting,  hoping, 
and  all  the  rest  of  it,  when  the  old  woman  looked  up  into  his  face,  and 
said,  '  Peer  thing,  ye  ken  naething  aboot  it.'  This  is  what  I  say  to 
those  who  set  themselves  up  to  judge  another  man's  servant.  We  hope 
our  good  Master  may  permit  us  to  do  some  good  to  our  fellow-men." 

His  correspondence  with  Sir  Roderick  Murchison  is 
likewise  full  of  the  idea  of  the  colony.  He  is  thoroughly 
persuaded  that  no  good  will  ever  be  done  by  the  Portu- 
guese. They  are  a  worn-out  people — utterly  worn  out 
by  disease — their  stamina  consumed.  Fresh  European 
blood  must  be  poured  into  Africa.  In  consequence  of 
recent  discoveries,  he  now  sees  his  way  open,  and  all  his 
hopes  of  benefit  to  England  and  Africa  about  to  be  realised. 
This  must  have  been  one  of  Livingstone's  happiest  tunes. 
Visions  of  Christian  colonies,  of  the  spread  of  arts  and 
civilisation,  of  the  progress  of  Christianity  and  the 
Christian  graces,  of  the  cultivation   of  cotton  and   the 


264  DA  VID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xii. 

dlsajipearance  of  the  slave-trade,  floated  before  him. 
Abeady  the  wilderness  seemed  to  be  blossoming.  But 
the  briofht  consummation  was  not  so  near  as  it  seemed. 
One  source  of  mischief  was  yet  unchecked,  and  from  it 
disastrous  storms  were  preparing  to  break  on  the  enter- 
prise. 

On  his  way  home,  Dr.  Livingstone's  health  was  not 
satisfactory,  but  this  did  not  keep  him  from  duty.  "  \iih 
October. — Went  on  17th  j)art  way  up  to  Murchison's 
Cataracts,  and  yesterday  reached  it.  Very  ill  with  bleed- 
ing from  the  bowels  and  purging.  Bled  all  night.  Got 
up  at  one  a.m.  to  take  latitude." 

At  length,  on  4th  November  1859,  letters  reached  him 
from  his  family.  "  A  letter  from  Mrs.  L.  says  we  were 
blessed  with  a  little  daughter  on  16th  November  1858  at 
Kuruman.  A  fine  healthy  child.  The  Lord  bless  and 
make  her  His  own  child  in  heart  and  life ! "  She  had 
been  nearly  a  year  in  the  world  before  he  heard  of  her 
existence. 


ii>6o.]  GOING  HOME   WITH  THE  MAKOLOLO.         265 


CHAPTER  XIIL 

GOING  HOME  WITH  THE  MAKOLOLO. 

A.D.  1860. 

Down  to  Kongone— State  of  the  ship— Further  delay— Letter  to  Secretary  of 
Universities  Mission — Letter  to  Mr.  Braithwaite — At  Tette — Miss  Whately's 
sugar-mill — With  his  brother  and  Kirk  at  Kebrabasa — ^lode  of  travelling- 
Reappearance  of  old  frierds — African  warfare  and  its  effects— Desolation — A 
European  colony  desirable — Escape  from  rhinoceros — Rumours  of  Moffat — 
The  Portuguese  local  Governors  oppose  Livingstone — He  becomes  unpopular 
with  them— Letter  to  Mr.  Young — Wants  of  the  country — The  Makololo — 
Approach  home — Some  are  disappointed — News  of  the  death  of  the  London 
missionaries,  the  Helmores  and  others — Letter  to  Dr.  Moffat — The  Victoria 
Falls  re-examined — Sekeletu  ill  of  leprosy — Treatment  and  recoveiy — His 
disappointment  at  not  seeing  Mrs.  Livingstone — Efforts  for  the  spiritual  good 
of  the  Makololo — Careful  observations  in  Natural  History — The  last  of  the 
"Ma-Robert" — Cheering  prospect  of  the  Universities  Mission — Letter  to 
Mr.  Moore— to  ]\Ir.  Young — He  wishes  another  ship— Letter  to  Sir  Roderick 
Murchison  on  the  rumoured  journey  of  Silva  Porto. 

It  was  necessary  to  go  down  to  Kongone  for  the  repair 
of  the  ship.  Livingstone  was  greatly  disappointed  with 
it,  and  thought  the  greed  of  the  vendor  had  suppHed  him 
with  a  very  inferior  article  for  the  price  of  a  good  one. 
He  thus  pours  forth  his  vexation  in  writing  to  a  friend : 
"  Very  grievous  it  is  to  be  standing  here  tinkering  when 
we  might  be  doing  good  service  to  the  cause  of  African 
civilisation,  and  that  on  account  of  insatiable  greediness. 
Burton  may  thank  L.  and  B.  that  we  were  not  at  the 
other  lakes  before  him.  The  loss  of  time  greediness 
has  inflicted  on  us  has  been  frightful.  My  plan  in  this 
Expedition  was  excellent,  but  it  did  not  include  pro- 
visions  against  hypocrisy  and  fraud,  which  have  sorely 


^■td  DA  Vin  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xiii. 

crippled  us,   and,  indeed,   ruined  us  as  a  scientific  ex- 
jDedition." 

Another  delay  was  caused  before  tliey  went  inwards, 
from  their  having  to  wait  for  a  season  suitable  for  hunt- 
ing, as  the  party  had  to  be  kept  in  food.  The  mail  from 
England  had  been  lost,  and  they  had  the  bitter  disappoint- 
ment of  losing  a  year's  correspondence  from  home.  The 
following  portions  of  a  letter  to  the  Secretary  of  the 
Committee  for  a  Universities  Mission  gives  a  view  of  the 
situation  at  this  time  : — 

"PavER  Zambesi,  2Q,th  Jan.  1S60. 

"  The  defects  we  have  unfortunately  experienced  in  the  'Ma-Robert,' 
or  rather  tlie  'Asthmatic,'  are  so  numerous  that  it  would  require  a 
treatise  as  long  as  a  lawyer's  specification  of  any  simple  subject  to 
give  you  any  idea  of  them,  and  they  have  inflicted  so  much  toil  that 
a  feeling  of  sickness  comes  over  me  when  I  advert  to  them. 

"  No  one  will  ever  believe  the  toil  we  have  been  put  to  in  wood- 
cutting. The  quantity  consumed  is  enormous,  and  we  cannot  get 
sufficient  for  speed  into  the  furnace.  It  was  only  a  dogged  determina- 
tion not  to  be  beaten  that  carried  me  through.  .  .  .  But  all  will  come 
out  right  at  last.  We  are  not  alone,  though  truly  we  deserve  not  His 
presence.  He  encourages  the  trust  that  is  granted  by  the  word,  '  I 
am  with  you,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world.'  .  .  . 

"  It  is  impossible  for  you  to  conceive  how  backward  everything  is 
here,  and  the  Portuguese  are  not  to  be  depended  upon  ;  their  establish- 
ments are  only  small  penal  settlements,  and  as  no  women  are  sent  out, 
the  state  of  morals  is  frightful.  The  only  chance  of  success  is  away 
from  them ;  nothing  would  prosper  in  their  vicinity.  After  all,  I  am 
convinced  that  Avere  Christianity  not  divine,  it  would  be  trampled  out 
by  its  professors.  Dr.  Kirk,  Mr.  C.  Livingstone,  and  ]\Ir.  Eae,  with 
two  English  seamen,  do  well.  We  are  now  on  our  way  up  the  river 
to  the  Makololo  country,  but  must  go  overland  from  Kebrabasa,  or  in 
a  whaler.  We  should  be  better  able  to  plan  our  course  if  our  letters 
had  not  been  lost.  We  have  never  been  idle,  and  do  not  mean  to  be. 
We  have  been  trying  to  get  the  Portuguese  Government  to  acknow- 
ledge free-trade  on  this  river,  and  but  for  long  delay  in  our  letters 
the  negotiation  might  have  been  far  advanced.  I  hope  Lord  John 
Itussell  will  help  in  this  matter,  and  then  we  must  have  a  small  colony 
or  missionary  and  mercantile  settlement.  If  this  our  desire  is  granted, 
it  is  probable  we  shall  have  no  cause  to  lament  our  long  toil  and 
detention  here.  My  wife's  letters  too,  were  lost,  so  I  don't  know  how 
or  where  she  is.  Our  separation,  and  the  work  I  have  been  engaged 
in,  were  not  contemplated,  but  they  have  led  to  our  opening  a  path 


i86o.]  GOING  HOME   WITH  THE  MAKOLOLO.         267 

into  the  fine  cotton-field  in  the  North.  You  will  sec  that  the  dis- 
coveries of  Burton  and  Speke  confirm  mine  respecting  the  form  of  the 
continent  and  its  fertility.  It  is  an  immense  field.  I  crave  the  honour 
of  establishing  a  focus  of  Christianity  in  it,  but  should  it  not  be  granted, 
I  will  submit  as  most  unworthy.  I  have  written  IMr.  Venn  twice,  and 
from  yours  I  see  something  is  contemjilated  in  Cambridge.  ...  If 
young  men  come  to  this  country,  they  must  lay  their  account  Avith 
doing  everything  for  themselves.  They  must  not  expect  to  find 
influence  at  once,  and  all  the  countries  near  to  the  Portuguese  have  been 
greatly  depopulated.  AVe  are  now  ascending  this  river  without  veget- 
ables, and  living  on  salt  beef  and  pork.  The  slave-trade  has  done  its 
work,  for  formerly  all  kinds  of  provisions  could  be  procured  at  every 
point,  and  at  the  cheapest  rate.  "We  cannot  get  anything  for  either 
love  or  money,  in  a  country  the  fertility  of  which  is  truly  astonishing." 

A  few  more  general  topics  are  touched  on  in  a  letter 
to  Mr.  Braithwaite  : — ■ 

"  I  am  sorry  to  hear  of  the  death  of  Mr.  Sturge.  He  wrote  me  a 
long  letter  on  the  '  Peace  principle,'  and  before  I  could  study  it  care- 
fully, it  was  mislaid.  I  wrote  him  from  Tette,  as  I  did  not  wish  him 
to  suppose  I  neglected  him,  and  mentioned  the  murder  of  the  six 
Makololo  and  other  things,  as  difficulties  in  the  way  of  adopting  his 
views,  as  they  were  perfectly  unarmed,  and  there  was  no  feud  between 
the  tribes.  I  fear  that  ray  letter  may  not  have  reached  him  alive. 
The  departure  of  Sir  Powell  Buxton  and  others  is  very  unexpected. 
Sorry  to  see  the  loss  of  Dr.  Bo  wen  of  Sierra  Leone — a  good  man  and 
a  true.  But  there  is  One  Avho  ever  liveth  to  make  intercession  for  us, 
and  to  carry  on  His  own  work.  A  terrible  war  that  was  in  Italy,  and 
the  peace  engenders  more  uneasy  forebodings  than  any  peace  ever 
heard  of.  It  is  well  that  God  and  not  the  devil  reigns,  and  will  bring 
His  own  purposes  to  pass,  right  through  the  midst  of  the  wars  and 
passions  of  men.  Have  you  any  knowledge  of  a  famous  despatch 
written  by  Sir  George  Grey  (late  of  the  Cape),  on  the  proper  treatment 
of  native  tribes  ?     I  wish  to  study  it. 

"  Tell  your  children  that  if  I  could  get  hold  of  a  hippopotamus  I 
would  eat  it  rather  than  allow  it  to  eat  me.  AYe  see  them  often,  but 
before  we  get  near  enough  to  get  a  shot  they  dive  down,  and  remain 
hidden  till  we  are  past.  As  for  lions,  we  never  see  them — sometimes 
hear  a  roar  or  two,  but  that  is  all,  and  I  go  on  the  plan  put  forth  by  a 
little  girl  in  Scotland  Avho  saw  a  cow  coming  to  her  in  a  meadow,  '  0 
boo  !  boo  !  you  no  hurt  me,  I  no  hurt  you.' " 

At  Tette  one  of  his  occupations  was  to  fit  uf)  a  sugar- 
mill,  the  gift  of  Miss  Whately  of  Dublin,  and  some  friends. 
To  that  lady  he  writes  a  long  letter  of  nineteen  pages. 
He  tells  her  he  had  just  put  up  her  beautiful  sugar-mill, 


268  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xiii. 

to  show  the  natives  what  conld  be  done  hy  machinery. 
Then  he  adverts  to  the  wonderful  freedom  from  sickness 
that  his  party  had  enjoyed  in  the  delta  of  the  Zambesi, 
and  proceeds  to  give  an  account  of  the  Shire  valley  and 
its  people.  He  finds  ground  for  a  favourable  contrast 
between  the  Shire  natives  and  the  Tette  Portuguese  : — 

"They  (the  natives)  have  fences  made  to  guard  the  women  from 
tlie  alHgators,  all  along  the  Shire ;  at  Tette  they  have  none,  and  two 
women  were  taken  past  our  vessel  in  the  mouths  of  these  horrid  brutes. 
The  number  of  women  taken  is  so  great  as  to  make  the  Portuguese 
swear  every  time  they  speak  of  them,  and  yet,  when  I  proposed  to  the 
priest  to  make  a  collection  for  a  fence,  and  offered  twenty  dollars,  he 
only  smiled.  You  Protestants  don't  know  all  the  good  you  do  by 
keeping  our  friends  of  the  only  true  and  infallible  Church  up  to  their 
duty.  Here,  and  in  Angola,  Ave  see  how  it  is,  when  they  are  not  pro- 
voked— if  not  to  love,  to  good  works.  .  .  . 

"On  telling  the  Makololo  that  the  sugar-mill  had  been  sent  to 
Sekeletu  by  a  lady,  who  collected  a  sum  among  other  ladies  to  buy  it, 
they  replied,  '  0  na  le  pelu ' — she  has  a  heart.  I  was  very  proud  of  it, 
and  so  were  they. 

"...  With  reference  to  the  future,  I  am  trying  to  do  what  I  did 
before — obey  the  injunction,  '  Commit  thy  way  to  the  Lord,  trust  also 
in  Him,  and  He  shall  bring  it  to  pass.'  And  I  hope  that  He  will 
make  some  use  of  me.  My  attention  is  now  directed  specially  to  the 
fact  that  there  is  no  country  better  adapted  for  producing  the  raw 
materials  of  English  manufactures  than  this.   .  .  . 

"  See  to  what  a  length  I  have  run.  I  have  become  palaverist.  I 
beg  you  to  present  my  respectful  salutation  to  the  Archbishop  and 
]\Irs.  Whately,  and  should  you  meet  any  of  the  kind  contril  tutors,  say 
how  thankful  I  am  to  them  all." 

From  Tette  he  writes  to  Sir  Roderick  Murchison,  7th 
February  18 GO,  urging  liis  plan  for  a  steamer  on  Lake 
Nyassa  :  "  If  Government  furnishes  the  means,  all  right ; 
if  not,  I  shall  spend  my  book-money  on  it.  I  don't  need 
to  touch  the  children's  fund,  and  mine  could  not  be 
better  spent.  People  who  are  born  rich  sometimes 
become  •  miserable  from  a  fear  of  becoming  poor ;  but 
I  have  the  advantage,  you  see,  in  not  being  afraid  to 
die  poor.  If  I  live,  I  must  succeed  in  what  I  have 
undertaken  ;  death  alone  will  put  a  stop  to  my  efforts." 

A  month  after  he  writes   to  the  same  friend,  from 


i86o.]  GOING  HOME   WITH  THE  MAKOIOLO.         269 

Kongone,  lOtli  March  1860,  that  he  is  sendmg  Rae  home 
for  a  vessel : — 

"  I  tell  Lord  John  Russell  that  he  (Rae)  may  thereby  do  us  more  ser- 
vice than  he  can  now  do  in  a  worn-out  steamer,  with  35  patches,  cover- 
ing at  least  100  holes.  I  say  to  his  Lordship,  that  after  we  have,  by 
patient  investigation  and  experiment,  at  the  risk  of  life,  rendered  the 
fever  not  more  formidable  than  a  common  cold ;  found  access,  from  a 
good  harbour  on  the  coast,  to  the  main  stream ;  and  discovered  a  path- 
way into  the  magnificent  Highland  lake  region,  which  promises  so 
fairly  for  our  commerce  in  cotton,  and  for  our  policy  in  suppressing 
the  trade  in  slaves,  I  earnestly  hope  that  he  will  crown  our  efforts  by. 
securing  our  free  passage  through  those  parts  of  the  Zambesi  and  Shir6 
of  which  the  Portuguese  make  no  use,  and  by  enabling  us  to  introduce 
civilisation  in  a  manner  which  will  extend  the  honour  and  influence 
of  the  English  name." 

In  his  communications  with  the  Government  at  home, 
Livingstone  never  failed  to  urge  the  importance  of  their 
securing  the  free  navigation  of  the  Zambesi.  The  Por- 
tuguese on  the  river  were  now  beginning  to  get  an 
inkling  of  his  drift,  and  to  feel  indignant  at  any  counten- 
ance he  was  receiving  from  their  own  Government. 

Passing  up  the  Zambesi  ^dth  Charles  Livingstone, 
Dr.  Kirk,  and  such  of  the  Makololo  as  were  wilhng  to 
go  home,  Dr.  Livingstone  took  a  new  look  at  Kebrabasa, 
from  a  different  point,  still  behoving  that  in  flood  it  would 
allow  a  steamer  to  pass.  Of  his  mode  of  travelhng  we 
have  some  j)leasant  glmipses.  He  always  tried  to  make 
progress  more  a  pleasure  than  a  toil,  and  found  that 
kindly  consideration  for  the  feelings  even  of  blacks,  the 
pleasure  of  observing  scenery  and  everything  new,  as 
one  moves  on  at  an  ordinary  pace,  and  the  participation 
in  the  most  dehghtful  rest  with  his  fellows,  made  travel- 
ling delightful.  He  was  gratified  to  find  that  he  was  as 
able  for  the  fatigue  as  the  natives.  Even  the  headman, 
who  carried  little  more  than  he  did  hunself,  and  never, 
like  him,  hunted  in  the  afternoon,  was  not  equal  to  him. 
The  hunting  was  no  small  addition  to  the  toil ;  the  tired 
hunter  was  often  tempted  to  give  it  up,  after  bringing 


2  70  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xiii. 

wliat  would  have  been  only  sufficient  for  the  three  whites, 
and  leave  the  rest,  thus  sending  "  the  idle,  ungrateful 
poor"  supperless  to  bed.  But  this  was  not  his  way. 
The  blacks  were  thought  of  in  hunting  as  well  as  the 
whites.  "It  is  only  by  continuance  in  well-doing,"  he 
says,  "  even  to  the  length  of  what  the  worldly-wise  call 
weakness,  that  the  conviction  is  produced  anywhere, 
that  our  motives  are  hio*h  enoug-h  to  secure  sincere 
respect." 

As  they  proceeded,  some  of  his  old  acquaintances 
reappeared,  notably  Mpende,  who  had  given  him  such  a 
threatening  recejDtion,  but  had  now  learned  that  he 
belonged  to  a  tribe  "  that  loved  the  black  man  and  did 
not  make  slaves."  A  chief  named  Pangola  appeared,  at 
first  tipsy  and  talkative,  demanding  a  rifle,  and  next 
morning,  just  as  they  were  beginning  divine  service, 
reappeared  sober  to  jDress  his  request.  Among  the 
Baenda-Pezi,  or  Go-Nakeds,  whose  only  clothing  is  a 
coat  of  red  ochre,  a  noble  specimen  of  the  race  appeared 
in  full  dress,  consisting  of  a  long  tobacco-pipe,  and 
brought  a  handsome  present. 

The  country  bore  the  usual  traces  of  the  results  of 
African  warfare.  At  times  a  clever  chief  stands  up,  who 
brings  large  tracts  under  his  dominion ;  at  his  death  his 
empire  dissolves,  and  a  fresh  series  of  desolating  wars 
ensues.  In  one  region  which  was  once  studded  with 
villages,  they  walked  a  wdiole  week  without  meeting 
any  one.  A  European  colony,  he  was  sure,  would  be 
invaluable  for  constraining  the  tribes  to  live  in  peace. 
"  Thousands  of  industrious  natives  would  gladly  settle 
round  it,  and  engage  in  that  peaceful  pursuit  of  agricul- 
ture and  trade  of  which  they  are  so  fond,  and,  undistracted 
by  wars  and  rumours  of  wars,  might  listen  to  the  purifying 
and  ennobling  truths  of  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ." 
At  Zumbo,  the  most  picturesque  site  in  the  country,  they 
saw  the  ruins  of  Jesuit  missions,  reminding  them  that 


i86o.]  GOING  HOME   WITH  THE  MAKOLOIO.         271 

there  men  once  met  to  utter  the  magnificent  words, 
"Thou  art  the  Kmg  of  Glory,  O  Christ!"  but  without 
leaving  one  permanent  trace  of  theu"  labours  in  the  belief 
and  worship  of  the  people. 

Wherever  they  go,  Dr.  Livingstone  has  his  eye  on 
the  trees  and  plants  and  fruits  of  the  region,  with  a  view 
to  commerce  ;  while  he  is  no  less  mterested  to  watch  the 
treatment  of  fever,  when  cases  occur,  and  greatly  gratified 
that  Dr.  Kirk,  who  had  been  trying  a  variety  of  medicines 
on  himself,  made  rapid  recovery  when  he  took  Dr.  Living- 
stone's pills.  He  used  to  say  if  he  had  followed  Morison, 
and  set  up  as  pill-maker,  he  might  have  made  his  fortune. 
Passing  through  the  Bazizulu  he  had  an  escape  from  a 
rhinoceros,  as  remarkable  though  not  quite  as  romantic 
as  his  escape  from  the  lion ;  the  animal  came  dashing  at 
him,  and  suddenly,  for  some  unknown  reason,  stopped 
when  close  to  him,  and  gave  him  time  to  escape,  as  if  it 
had  been  struck  by  his  colour,  and  doubtful  if  hunting 
a  white  man  would  be  good  sport. 

At  a  month's  distance  from  Mosilikatse,  they  heard  a 
report  that  the  missionaries  had  been  there,  that  they 
had  told  the  chief  that  it  was  wrongs  to  kill  men,  and 
that  the  chief  had  said  he  was  born  to  kill  people,  but 
would  drop  the  practice — an  interesting  testimony  to  the 
power  of  Mr.  Moffat's  words.  Ever3rvvhere  the  Makololo 
proclaimed  that  they  were  the  friends  of  peace,  and  their 
course  was  like  a  triumphal  procession,  the  people  of  the 
villages  loading  them  with  presents. 

But  a  new  revelation  came  to  Dr.  Livingstone. 
Though  the  Portuguese  Government  had  given  public 
orders  that  he  was  to  be  aided  in  every  possible  way, 
it  was  evident  that  private  instructions  had  come,  which, 
unintentionally  perhaps,  certainly  produced  the  opposite 
effects.  The  Portuguese  who  were  engaged  in  the  slave- 
trade  were  far  too  much  devoted  to  it  ever  to  encouraofe 
an  enterprise  that  aimed   at   extirpating  it.      Indeed,  it 


2  72  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xiii. 

became  painfully  apparent  to  Dr.  Livingstone  that  the 
effect  of  his  opening  np  the  Zambesi  had  been  to  afford 
the  Portuguese  traders  new  facilities  for  conducting  .theu' 
unhallowed  traffic ;  and  had  it  not  been  for  his  promise 
to  bring  back  the  Makololo,  he  would  now  have  abandoned 
the  Zambesi  and  tried  the  Rovuma,  as  a  way  of  reachmg 
Nyassa.  His  future  endeavours  in  connection  with  the 
Kovuma  receive  their  explanation  from  this  unwelcome 
discovery.  The  significance  of  the  discovery  in  other 
respects  cannot  fail  to  be  seen.  Hitherto  Livingstone 
had  been  on  friendly  terms  with  the  Portuguese  Govern- 
ment ;  he  could  be  so  no  longer.  The  remarkable 
kindness  he  had  so  often  received  from  Portuguese 
officers  and  traders  made  it  a  most  painful  trial  to  break 
with  the  authorities.  But  there  was  no  alternative. 
Livingstone's  courage  was  equal  to  the  occasion,  though 
he  could  not  but  see  that  his  new  attitude  to  the  Portu- 
guese must  give  an  altered  aspect  to  liis  expedition,  and 
create  difficulties  that  mio;ht  brino-  it  to  an  end. 

A  letter  to  Mr.  James  Young,  dated  22d  July,  near 
Kalosi,  gives  a  fr"ee  and  familiar  accoimt  of  "  what  he  was 
about :" — 

"This  is  July  18G0,  and  no  letter  from  you  except  one  written  a 
few  months  after  we  sailed  in  the  year  of  grace  1858.  What  you  are 
doing  I  cannot  divine.  I  am  ready  to  believe  any  mortal  thing  excej^t 
that  Louis  Napoleon  has  taken  you  away  to  make  paraffin  oil  for 
the  Tuileries.  I  don't  believe  that  he  is  supreme  ruler,  or  that  he 
can  go  an  inch  bej^ond  his  tether.  AVell,  as  I  cannot  conceive  what 
you  are  about,  I  must  tell  you  what  we  are  doing,  and  Ave  are  just 
trudging  up  the  Zambesi  as  if  there  were  no  steam  and  no  locomotive 
but  shank's  nag  3^et  discovered.  .  .  . 

"  We  have  heard  of  a  mission  for  the  Interior  from  the  English 
Universities,  and  this  is  the  best  news  we  have  got  since  we  came  to 
Africa.  I  have  recommended  up  Shire  as  a  proper  sphere,  and  hasten 
back  so  as  to  be  in  the  Avay  if  any  assistance  can  be  rendered.  I 
rejoice  at  the  prospect  Avith  all  my  heart,  and  am  glad,  too,  that  it  is 
to  be  a  Church  of  England  JNIission,  for  that  Church  has  never  put 
forth  its  strength,  and  I  trust  this  may  draw  it  forth.  I  am  tired  of 
discovery  Avhen  no  fruit  foUoAv^s.     It  Avas  refreshing  to  be  able  to  sit 


i860.]        going  home   WITH  THE  MAKOLOIO.  273 

down  every  evening  with  the  Makololo  again,  and  tell  them  of  Him 
who  came  down  from  heaven  to  save  sinners.  The  unmerciful  toil 
of  the  steamer  prevented  me  from  following  my  bent  as  I  should  have 
done.  Poor  fellows  !  they  have  learned  no  good  from  their  contact 
with  slavery ;  many  have  imbibed  the  slave  spirit ;  many  had  married 
slave  women  and  got  children.  These  I  did  not  expect  to  return,  as 
they  were  captives  of  Sekel6tu,  and  were  not  his  own  proper  people. 
All  professed  a  strong  desire  to  return.  To  test  them  I  proposed  to  burn 
their  village,  but  to  this  they  would  not  assent.  We  then  went  out  a 
few  miles  and  told  them  that  any  one  wishing  to  remain  might  do  so 
Avithout  guilt.  A  few  returned,  but  though  this  was  stated  to  them 
repeatedly  afterwards  they  preferred  running  away  like  slaves.  I 
never  saw  any  of  the  interior  people  so  devoid  of  honour.  Some  com- 
plained of  sickness,  and  all  these  I  sent  back,  intrusting  them  with 
their  burdens.  About  twenty-five  returned  in  all  to  live  at  Tette. 
Some  were  drawn  away  by  promises  made  to  them  as  elephant- 
hunters.  I  had  no  objection  to  their  trying  to  better  their  condition, 
but  was  annoyed  at  finding  that  they  would  not  tell  their  intentions, 
but  ran  away  as  if  I  were  using  compulsion.  I  have  learned  more  of 
the  degrading  nature  of  slavery  of  late  than  I  ever  conceived  befors. 
Our  20  millions  were  well  spent  in  ridding  ourselves  of  the  incubus, 
and  I  think  Ave  ought  to  assist  our  countrymen  in  the  West  Indies  to 
import  free  labour  from  India.  ...  I  cannot  tell  you  how  glad  I  am 
at  a  prospect  of  a  better  system  being  introduced  into  Eastern  Africa 
than  that  which  has  prevailed  for  ages,  the  evils  of  which  have  only 
been  intensified  by  Portuguese  colonisation,  as  it  is  called.  Here  we 
are  passing  through  a  Avell-iieopled,  fruitful  region — a  prolonged 
valley,  for  we  have  the  highlands  f;xr  on  our  right.  I  did  not  observe 
before  that  all  the  banks  of  the  Zambesi  are  cotton  fields.  I  never 
intended  to  write  a  book  and  take  no  note  of  cotton,  which  I  now 
see  everywhere.  On  the  Chongwe  we  found  a  species  Avhich  is  culti- 
vated south  of  the  Zambesi,  which  resembles  some  kinds  from  South 
America. 

"  All  that  is  needed  is  religious  and  mercantile  establishments  to 
begin  a  better  system  and  promote  peaceful  intercourse.  Here  we  are 
among  a  people  who  go  stark  naked  with  no  more  sense  of  shame  than 
we  have  with  our  clothes  on.  The  Avomen  have  more  sense,  and  go 
decently.  You  see  great  he-animals  all  about  your  camp  carrying 
their  indispensable  tobacco-pipes  and  iron  tongs  to  lift  fire  with,  but 
the  idea  of  a  fig-leaf  has  never  entered  the  mind.  They  cultivate 
largely,  have  had  enormous  crops  of  grain,  Avork  Avell  in  iron,  and 
shoAV  taste  in  their  dAvellings,  stools,  baskets,  and  musical  instruments. 
They  are  very  hospitable  too,  and  appreciate  our  motives ;  but  shame 
has  been  unaccountably  left  out  of  the  question.  They  can  give  no 
reason  for  it  except  that  all  their  ancestors  went  exactly  as  they  do. 
Can  you  explain  why  Adam's  first  feeling  has  no  trace  of  existence  in 
his  oftspringi" 

S 


2  74  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xiii. 

When  the  party  reached  the  outskirts  of  Sekeletu's 
territory  the  news  they  heard  was  not  encouraging. 
Some  of  the  men  heard  that  in  their  absence  some  of 
their  wives  had  been  variously  disposed  of  One  had 
been  killed  for  witchcraft,  another  had  married  again, 
while  Masakasa  was  told  that  two  years  ago  a  kind  of 
wild  Irish  wake  had  been  celebrated  in  honour  of  his 
memory ;  the  news  made  him  resolve,  when  he  presented 
himself  among  them,  to  declare  himself  an  inhabitant  of 
another  world  !  One  poor  fellow's  wail  of  anguish  for  his 
wife  was  most  distressing  to  hear. 

But  far  more  tragical  w^as  the  news  of  the  missionaries 
who  had  gone  from  the  London  Missionary  Society  to 
Linyanti,  to  labour  among  Sekeletu's  people.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Ilelmore  and  several  of  his  party  had  succumbed  to 
fever,  and  the  survivors  had  retired.  Dr.  Livingstone 
was  greatly  distressed,  and  not  a  little  hurt,  because  he 
had  not  heard  a  word  about  the  mission,  nor  been  asked 
advice  about  any  of  the  arrangements.  If  only  the  Hel- 
mores  and  their  comrades  had  followed  the  treatment 
practised  by  him  so  often,  and  in  this  very  valley  at  this 
time  by  his  brother  Charles,  they  would  probably  have 
recovered.  All  spoke  kindly  of  Mr.  Helmore,  who  had 
quite  won  the  hearts  of  the  people.  Knowing  their 
language,  he  had  at  once  begun  to  preach,  and  some  of 
the  young  men  at  Sesheke  were  singing  the  hymns  he 
had  taught  them.  Humours  had  gone  abroad  that  some 
of  the  missionaries  had  been  poisoned.  In  some  quarters 
blame  was  cast  on  Livingstone  for  having  misled  the 
Society  as  to  the  character  of  Sekeletu  and  his  disposition 
toward  missionaries ;  but  Livingstone  satisfied  himself 
that,  though  the  missionaries  had  been  neglected  no  foul 
play  had  taken  place  ;  fever  alone  had  caused  the  deaths, 
and  want  of  skill  in  managing  the  people  had  brought 
the  remainder  of  the  troubles.  One  piece  of  good  news 
which    he  heard    at   Linyanti   was   that    his    old    friend 


iS5o,]         GOING  HOME   WITH  THE  MAKOLOLO.  275 

Sechele  was  doin<r  well.  He  had  a  Hanoverian  mission- 
aiy,  nine  tribes  were  under  him,  and  the  schools  were 
numerously  attended. 

Writing  to  Dr.  Moffat,  10th  August  1860,  from  Zam- 
besi Falls,  he  says  : — 

"  "With  great  sorrow  we  learned  the  death  of  our  much-esteemed 
friends,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Helmore,  two  days  ago.  We  were  too  late  to 
be  of  any  service,  for  the  younger  missionaries  had  retired,  probably 
dispirited  by  the  loss  of  their  leader.  It  is  evident  that  the  fever 
when  untreated  is  as  fatal  now  as  it  proved  in  the  case  of  Commodore 
Owen's  officers  in  this  river,  or  in  the  great  Niger  Expedition.  And  yet 
Avliat  poor  drivel  Avas  poured  forth  when  I  adopted  energetic  measures 
for  speedily  removing  any  Europeans  out  of  the  Delta.  AVe  were  not 
then  aware  that  the  remedy  Avhich  Avas  first  found  efficacious  in  our 
own  little  Thomas  on  Lake  'Ngami,  in  1850,  and  that  cured  myself 
and  attendants  during  my  solitary  journeyings,  was  a  certain  cure  for 
the  disease,  without  loss  of  strength  in  Europeans  generally.  This 
we  now  know  by  ample  experience  to  be  the  case.  Warburg's  drops, 
which  have  a  great  reputation  in  India,  here  cause  profuse  perspiration 
only,  and  the  fever  remains  uncured.  With  our  remedy,  of  which  we 
make  no  secret,  a  man  utterly  prostrated  is  roused  to  resume  his  march 
next  day.  I  have  sent  the  prescription  to  John,  as  I  doubt  being  able 
to  go  so  far  south  as  Mosilikatse's." 

Again  the  grand  Victoria  Falls  are  reached,  and 
Charles  Livingstone,  who  has  seen  Niagara,  gives  the 
preference  to  Mosi-oa-tunya.  By  the  route  which  they 
took,  they  would  have  passed  the  Falls  at  twenty  miles' 
distance,  but  Dr.  Livingstone  could  not  resist  the  temp- 
tation to  show  them  to  his  companions.  All  his  former 
computations  as  to  their  size  were  found  to  be  consider- 
ably within  the  mark  ;  instead  of  a  thousand  yards  broad 
they  were  more  than  eighteen  hundred,  and  whereas  he 
had  said  that  the  height  of  fall  was  about  100  feet,  it 
turned  out  to  be  310.  His  habit  of  keeping  within  the 
mark  in  all  his  statements  of  remarkable  things  was  thus 
exemplified. 

On  coming  among  liis  old  friends  the  Makololo,  he 
found  them  in  low  spirits  owing  to  protracted  drought, 
and  Sekeletu  was  ill  of  leprosy.     He  was  in  the  hands  of 


276  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xiii. 

a  native  doctress,  who  was  persuaded  to  suspend  lier 
treatment,  and  the  kinar  caustic  applied  by  Drs.  Living- 
stone and  Kirk  had  excellent  effects/  On  going  to  Lin- 
yanti,  Dr.  Livingstone  found  the  wagon  and  other 
articles  which  he  had  left  there  in  1853,  safe  and  sound, 
except  from  the  effects  of  weather  and  the  white  ants. 
The  expressions  of  kindness  and  confidence  towards  him 
on  the  part  of  the  natives  greatly  touched  him.  The 
people  were  much  disappointed  at  not  seeing  Mrs.  Living- 
stone and  the  children.  But  this  confidence  was  the 
result  of  his  way  of  dealing  with  them.  "  It  ought  never 
to  be  forgotten  that  influence  among  the  heathen  can  be 
acquired  only  by  patient  continuance  in  well-doing,  and 
that  good  manners  are  as  necessary  among  barbarians  as 
among  the  civilised."  The  Makololo  were  the  most  inter- 
esting tribe  that  Dr.  Livingstone  had  ever  seen.  While 
now  with  them  he  was  unwearied  in  his  efforts  for  theu' 
spiritual  good.     In  his  Journal  we  find  these  entries  : — 

"  Scptcmher  2,  1860. — On  Sunday  evening  went  over  to  the  people, 
giving  a  general  summary  of  Christian  faith  by  the  life  of  Christ.  Asked 
them  to  speak  about  it  afterwards.  Replied  that  these  things  were 
above  them — they  could  not  answer  me.  I  said  if  I  spoke  of  camels 
and  buffaloes  tamed,  they  understood,  though  they  had  never  seen 
them  ;  why  not  perceive  the  story  of  Christ,  the  witnesses  to  which 
refused  to  deny  it,  though  killed  for  maintaining  it  1  Went  on  to 
speak  of  the  resurrection.  All  were  listening  eagerly  to  the  statements 
about  this,  especially  when  they  heard  that  they  too  must  rise  and  be 
judged.  Lerimo  said,  *  This  I  Avou't  believe.'  '  Well,  the  guilt  lies 
between  you  and  Jesus.'  This  always  arrests  attention.  SjJoke  of 
blood  shed  by  them ;  the  conversation  continued  till  they  said,  '  It 
Avas  time  for  me  to  cross,  for  the  river  was  dangerous  at  night.' " 

"  September  9. — Spoke  to  the  people  on  the  north  side  of  the  river 
— wind  prevented  evening  service  on  the  south." 

The  last  subject  on  which  he  preached  before  leaving 
them  on  this  occasion  was  the  great  resurrection.  They 
told  him  they  could  not  believe  a  reunion  of  the  particles 

^  In  1864,  while  residing  at  Newstead  Abbey,  and  writing  his  book,  Tlit  Zam- 
besi and  its  Tributaries,  Dr.  Livin^ef  <^^oHe  heard  of  the  death  of  Sekeletu. 


i86o.]         GOING  HOME   WITH  THE  MAKOLOLO.  277 

of  the  body  possible.  Dr.  Livingstone  gave  them  in 
reply  a  chemical  illustration,  and  then  referred  to  the 
authority  of  the  Book  that  taught  them  the  doctrine. 
And  the  poor  people  were  more  willing  to  give  in  to  the 
authority  of  the  Book  than  to  the  chemical  illustration ! 

In  The  Zambesi  and  its  Tributaries  this  journey  to 
the  Makololo  country  and  back  occupies  one-third  of  the 
volume,  though  it  did  not  lead  to  any  very  special  results. 
But  it  enabled  Dr.  Livingstone  to  make  great  additions 
to  his  knowledge  both  of  the  people  and  the  country. 
His  observations  are  recorded  with  the  utmost  care,  for 
though  he  might  not  be  able  to  turn  them  to  immediate 
use,  it  was  likely,  and  even  certain,  that  they  would  be 
useful  some  day.  Indeed  the  spirit  of  faith  is  apparent 
in  the  whole  narrative,  as  if  he  could  not  pass  over  even 
the  most  insignificant  details.  The  fish  in  the  rivers,  the 
wild  animals  in  the  woods,  the  fissures  in  the  rocks,  the 
course  of  the  streams,  the  composition  of  the  minerals  and 
gravels,  and  a  thousand  other  phenomena,  are  carefully 
observed  and  chronicled.  The  crowned  cranes  beginning 
to  pair,  the  flocks  of  spurwinged  geese,  the  habits  of  the 
ostrich,  the  nests  of  bee-eaters,  pass  under  review  in  rapid 
succession.  His  sphere  of  observation  ranges  from  the 
structure  of  the  great  continent  itself  to  the  serrated  ^ 
bone  of  the  konokono,  or  the  mandible  of  the  ant. 

Leaving  Sesheke  on  the  17th  September,  they  reached 
Tette  on  the  23d  November  1860,  whence  they  started 
for  Konofone  with  the  unfortunate  "  Ma-Bobert."  But 
the  days  of  that  asthmatic  old  lady  were  numbered.  On 
the  21st  December  she  grounded  on  a  sandbank,  and 
could  not  get  off.  A  few  days  before  this  catastrophe 
Livingstone  writes  to  Mr.  Young  :— 

"Liipata,  '4(h  Dec.   1860. — Many  thanks  for  all  you   have   been 
•  doing  about  the   steamer  and   everything  else.     You  seem  to  have 
gone  about  matters  in  a  most  business-like  manner,  and  once  for  all  I 
assure  you  I  am  deeply  grateful. 


278  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xiii. 

*'  We  are  now  on  our  way  down  to  the  sea,  in  liopes  of  meeting 
the  new  steamer  for  which  you  and  other  friends  exerted  yourselves 
so  zealously.  We  are  in  the  old  '  Asthmatic,'  though  we  gave  her  up 
l)efore  leaving  in  May  last.  Our  engineer  has  been  doctoring  her 
bottom  with  fat  and  patches,  and  pronounced  it  safe  to  go  down  the 
river  by  dropping  slowly.  Every  day  a  new  leak  bursts  out,  and  he  is 
in  plastering  and  scoring,  the  pump  going  constantly.  I  would  not 
have  ventured  again,  but  our  whaler  is  as  bad — all  eaten  by  the 
teredo, — so  I  thought  it  as  well  to  take  both,  and  stick  to  that  which 
swims  longest.  You  can  put  your  thumb  through  either  of  them  ; 
they  never  can  move  again ;  I  never  expected  to  find  either  afloat, 
but  the  engineer  had  nothing  else  to  do,  and  it  saves  us  from  buying 
dear  canoes  from  the  Portuguese. 

'^  2,0th  Dec. — One  day,  above  Senna,  the  *  Ma-Robert'  stuck  on  a 
sandbank  and  filled,  so  we  had  to  go  ashore  and  leave  her." 

The  correspondence  of  this  year  indicates  a  growing 
dehght  at  the  prospect  of  the  Universities  Mission.  It 
was  this,  indeed,  mainly  that  kept  up  his  spirits  under 
the  depression  caused  by  the  failure  of  the  "  Ma-Robert," 
and  other  mishaps  of  the  Expedition,  the  endless  delays 
and  worries  that  had  resulted  from  that  cause,  and  the 
manner  in  which  both  the  Portuguese  and  the  French 
were  counter-working  him  by  encouraging  the  slave-trade. 
While  professedly  encouraging  emigration,  the  French 
were  really  extending  slavery. 

Here  is  his  lively  account  of  himself  to  his  friend 
Mr.  Moore  :— 

"Tette,  2Sth  Novemher  ISGO. 
"  My  dear  Moore, — And  why  didn't  you  begin  when  you  were 
so  often  on  the  point  of  Avriting,  but  didn't  1  This  that  you  have 
accomplished  is  so  far  good,  but  very  short.  Hope  you  are  not  too 
old  to  learn.  You  have  heard  of  our  hindrances  and  annoyances,  and, 
possibly,  that  we  have  done  some  work  notwithstanding.  Thanks  to 
Providence,  we  have  made  some  progress,  and  it  is  likely  our  operations 
will  yet  have  a  decided  effect  on  slave-trading  in  Eastern  Africa.  I 
am  greatly  delighted  with  the  prospect  of  a  Church  of  England  mission 
to  Central  Africa.  That  is  a  good  omen  for  those  who  are  sitting  in 
darkness,  and  I  trust  that  in  process  of  time  great  benefits  will  be  con- 
ferred on  our  own  overcrowded  population  at  home.  There  is  room 
enough  and  to  spare  in  the  fair  world  our  Father  has  prepared  for  all. 
His  progeny,  I  pray  to  be  made  a  harbinger  of  good  to  many,  both 
white  and  black. 


i86o.]         GOING  HOME   WITH  THE  MAKOLOLC:  279 

"  I  like  to  hear  that  some  abuse  me  now,  and  say  that  I  am  no 
Christian.  Many  good  things  were  said  of  me  which  I  did  not  deserve, 
and  I  feared  to  read  them.  I  shall  read  every  word  I  can  on  the 
other  side,  and  that  will  prove  a  sedative  to  what  I  was  forced  to  hear 
of  an  opposite  tendency.  I  pray  that  He  who  has  lifted  me  up  and 
guided  me  thus  far,  will  not  desert  me  now,  but  make  me  useful  in 
my  day  and  generation.  '  I  will  never  leave  thee  nor  forsake  thee.' 
So  let  it  be. 

"  I  saw  poor  Helmore's  grave  lately.  Had  my  book  been  searched 
for  excellencies,  they  might  have  seen  a  certain  cure  for  African  fever. 
We  Avere  curing  it  at  a  lower  and  worse  part  of  the  river  at  the  very 
time  that  they  were  helplessly  perishing,  and  so  quickly,  that  more 
than  a  day  Avas  never  lost  after  the  operation  of  the  remedy,  though 
we  were  marching  on  foot.  Our  tramp  was  over  600  miles.  We 
dropped  down  stream  again  in  canoes  from  Sinamanero  to  Chipova — 
thence  to  this  on  shank's  nag.  We  go  down  to  the  sea  immediately, 
to  meet  our  new  steamer.     Our  punt  was  a  sham  and  a  snare, 

"  My  love  to  Mary  and  all  the  children,  with  all  our  friends  at 
Congleton." 

In  a  letter  to  Mr.  James  Young,  Dr.  Livingstone 
gives  good  reasons  for  not  wishing  to  jDush  the  colonisa- 
tion scheme  at  present,  as  he  had  recommended  to  the 
Universities  Mission  to  add  a  similar  enterprise  to  then' 
undertaking : — 

"  If  you  read  all  I  have  written  you  by  this  mail,  you  will  deserve 
to  be  called  a  literary  chai'acter.  I  find  that  I  did  not  touch  on  the 
colonisation  scheme.  I  have  not  changed  in  respect  to  it,  but  the 
Oxford  and  Cambridge  mission  have  taken  the  matter  up,  and  as  I 
shall  do  all  I  can  to  aid  them,  a  little  delay  will,  perhaps,  be  advis- 
able. 

"  We  are  waiting  for  our  steamer,  and  expect  her  every  day ;  our 
first  trip  is  a  secret,  and  _you  will  keep  it  so.  We  go  to  the  Eovuma, 
a  river  exterior  to  the  Portuguese  claims,  as  soon  as  the  vessel  arrives. 
Captain  Oldfield  of  the  '  Lyra '  is  sent  already,  to  exi)lore,  as  far  as  he 
can,  in  that  ship.  The  entrance  is  fine,  and  forty-five  miles  are  known, 
but  we  keep  our  movements  secret  from  the  Portuguese — and  so  must 
you ;  they  seize  everything  they  see  in  the  newspapers.     Who  are  my 

imprudent  friends  that  publish  everything  %    I  suspect  ^Ir. of , 

but  no  one  gives  me  a  name  or  a  clue.  Some  expected  me  to  feel 
sweet  at  being  jewed  by  a  false  philanthropist,  and  bamboozled  by  a 
silly  E.  N.  I  did  not,  and  could  not,  seem  so ;  but  I  shall  be  more 
careful  in  future. 

"  Again  back  to  the  colony.  It  is  not  to  sleep,  but  preparation 
must  be  made  by  collecting  information,  and  maturing  our  plans.     I 


sCd  da  VI D  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xii'. 

shall  be  able  to  give  definite  instructions  as  soon  as  I  see  how  the  other 
mission  works — at  its  beginning — and  when  we  see  if  the  new  route 
we  may  discover  has  a  better  path  to  Nyassa  than  by  Shire — we  shall 
choose  the  best,  of  course,  and  let  you  know  as  soon  as  possible.  I 
think  the  Government  will  not  hold  back  if  we  have  a  feasible  plan  to 
offer.  I  have  recommended  to  the  Universities  Mission  a  little  delay 
till  we  explore, — and  for  a  working  staff,  two  gardeners  acquainted 
with  farming ;  two  country  carpenters,  capable  of  erecting  sheds  and 
any  rough  work;  two  traders  to  purchase  and  prepare  cotton  for 
exportation ;  one  general  steward  of  mission  goods,  his  Avife  to  be 
a  good  plain  cook  ;  one  medical  man,  having  knowledge  of  chemistry 
enough  to  regulate  indigo  and  sugar-making.  All  the  attendants  to  be 
married,  and  their  wives  to  be  employed  in  sewing,  washing,  attending 
the  sick,  etc.,  as  need  requires.  The  missionaries  not  to  think  them- 
selves deserving  a  good  English  wife  till  they  have  erected  a  com- 
fortable abode  for  her." 

In  the  Itoyal  Geographical  Society  this  year  (18G0), 
certain  communications  were  read  which  tended  to  call  in 
question  Livingstone's  right  to  some  of  the  discoveries  he 
had  claimed  as  his  own,  Mr.  Macqueen,  through  whom 
these  communications  came,  must  have  had  peculiar 
notions  of  discovery,  for  some  time  before,  there  had 
appeared  in  the  Cape  papers  a  statement  of  his,  that 
Lake  'Ngami  of  1859  was  no  new  discovery,  as  Dr. 
Livingstone  had  visited  it  seven  years  before  ;  and  Living- 
stone had  to  write  to  the  papers  in  favour  of  the  claims 
of  Murray,  Oswell,  and  Livingstone,  against  himself  I  It 
had  been  asserted  to  the  Society  by  Mr.  Macqueen,  that 
Silvia  Porto,  a  Portuguese  trader,  had  shown  him  a  journal 
describing  a  journey  of  his  from  Benguela  on  the  west 
to  Ibo  and  Mozambique  on  the  east,  beginning  November 
26,  1852,  and  terminating  August  1854.  Of  that  journal 
Mr.  Macqueen  read  a  copious  abstract  to  the  Society 
(June  27,  1859)  which  is  published  in  the  Journal  for 
18G0. 

In  a  letter  to  Sir  Poderick  Murchison  (20th  February 
18G1),  Livingstone,  while  exonerating  Mr.  Macqueen  of 
all  intention  of  Taisleading,  gives  his  reasons  for  doubt- 
ing whether  the  journey  to  the  East  Coast  ever  took 


i860.]         going  home   WITH  THE  MAKOLOLO.  281 

place.  He  had  met  Porto  at  Linyanti  in  1853,  and  sub- 
sequently at  Naliele,  the  Barotse  capital,  and  had  been 
told  by  him  that  he  had  tried  to  go  eastwards,  but  had 
been  obliged  to  turn,  and  was  then  going  westwards, 
and  wished  him  to  accompany  him,  which  he  declined, 
as  he  was  a  slave-trader ;  he  had  read  his  journal  as  it 
appeared  in  the  Loanda  "  Boletim,"  but  there  was  not 
a  word  in  it  of  a  journey  to  the  East  Coast ;  when  tho 
Portuguese  minister  had  wished  to  find  a  rival  to  Dr. 
Livingstone,  he  had  brought  forward,  not  Porto,  as  he 
would  naturally  have  done  if  this  had  been  a  genuine 
journey,  but  two  black  men  who  came  to  Tette  in  1815  ; 
in  the  Boletim  of  Mozambique  there  was  no  word  of  the 
arrival  of  Porto  there ;  in  short,  the  part  of  the  journal 
founded  on  could  not  have  been  authentic.  Livingstone 
felt  keenly  on  the  subject  of  these  rumours,  not  on  his 
own  account,  but  on  account  of  the  Geographical  Society 
and  of  Sir  Roderick  who  had  introduced  him  to  it ;  for 
nothing  could  have  given  him  more  pain  than  that  either 
of  these  should  have  had  any  slur  thrown  on  them  through 
him,  or  even  been  placed  for  a  time  in  an  uncomfortable 
position. 


2Z2  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  y.i7. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

EOVUMA  AND  NYASSA — UNIVERSITIES  MISSIOIT. 
A.D.  1861-1862. 

Beginning  of  1861 — Arrival  of  the  "Pioneer" — and  of  the  agents  of  Universities 
Mission — Cordial  welcome — Livingstone's  catholic  feelings — Ordered  to  ex- 
plore the  Rovuma — Bishop  Mackenzie  goes  with  him — Returns  to  the  Shire- 
Turning-point  of  prosperity  past — Difficult  navigation — The  slave-sticks  — 
Bisliop  settles  at  Magomero — Hostilities  between  Manganja  and  Ajawa — Attack 
of  Mission  party  by  Ajawa — Livingstone's  advice  to  Bishop  regarding  them 
— Letter  to  his  son  Robert — Livingstone,  Kirk,  and  Charles  start  for  Lake 
Nyassa — Party  robbed  at  north  of  Lake — Dismal  activity  of  the  slave-trade — 
Awful  mortality  in  the  process — Livingstone's  fondness  for  PwncA— Letter  to 
Mr.  Young — Joy  at  departure  of  new  steamer  "Lady  Nyassa" — Colonisation 
project— Letter  against  it  from  Sir  R.  Murchison — Hears  of  Dr.  Stewart 
coming  out  from  Free  Church  of  Scotland — Visit  at  the  ship  from  Bishop 
Mackenzie— News  of  defeat  of  Ajawa  by  missionaries — Anxiety  of  Livingstone 
— Arrangements  for  "Pioneer  "  to  go  to  Kongone  for  new  steamer  and  friends 
from  home,  then  go  to  Ruo  to  meet  Bishoj) — "Pioneer"  detained — Dr. 
Livingstone's  anxieties  and  depi-ession  at  New  Year — "Pioneer"  misses  man- 
of-war  "  Gorgon  "^ — At  length  "Gorgon"  appears  with  brig  from  England 
and  "Lady  Nyassa" — Mrs.  Livingstone  and  other  ladies  on  board — Living- 
stone's meeting  with  liis  wife,  and  with  Dr.  Stewart — Stewart's  recollections — ■ 
Difficulties  of  navigation — Captain  Wilson  of  "Gorgon"  goes  up  river  and 
hears  of  death  of  Bisliop  Mackenzie  and  Mr.  BuiTup — Great  distress — Mis- 
representations about  Universities  Mission — Miss  Mackenzie  and  Mr.  Burrujj 
taken  to  "Gorgon" — Dr.  and  Mrs.  Livingstone  return  to  vShupanga — Illness 
and  death  of  Mrs.  Livingstone — Extracts  from  Livmgstone's  Journal  and 
letters  to  the  Moflfats,  Agnes,  and  the  Murchisons. 

The  beginning  of  1861  brought  some  new  features 
on  the  scene.  The  new  steamer,  the  "Pioneer,"  at  last 
arrived,  and  was  a  great  improvement  on  the  "Ma-Eobert," 
though  unfortunately  she  had  too  great  draught  of  water. 
The  agents  of  the  Universities  Mission  also  arrived,  the 
first  detachment  consisting  of  Bishop  Mackenzie  and  five 
other    Englishmen,    and    five    coloured    men    from    the 


1 86 1-62.]  UNIVERSITIES  MISSION.  283 

Cape.  Writing  familiarly  to  his  friend  Moore,  d  propos 
of  his  new  comrades  of  the  Church  Mission,  Livingstone 
says  : — "  I  have  never  felt  anyways  inchned  to  turn 
Churchman  or  dissenter  either,  since  I  came  out  here. 
The  feelino's  which  we  have  toward  different  sects  alter 
out  here  quite  insensibly,  till  one  looks  upon  all  godly 
men  as  good  and  true  brethren.  I  rejoiced  when  I  heard 
that  so  many  good  and  great  men  in  the  Universities  had 
turned  their  thoughts  towards  Africa,  and  feeling  sure 
that  He  who  had  touched  their  hearts  would  lead  them 
to  promote  His  own  glory,  I  welcomed  the  men  they  sent 
with  a  hearty  unfeigned  welcome." 

To  his  friend  Mr.  Maclear  he  wrote  that  he  was  very- 
glad  the  Mission  was  to  be  under  a  bishop.  He  had  seen 
so  much  idleness  and  folly  result  from  missionaries  being 
left  to  themselves,  that  it  was  a  very  great  satisfxction 
to  find  that  the  new  Mission  was  to  be  superintended 
hy  one  authorised  and  qualified  to  take  the  charge. 
Afterwards  when  he  came  to  know  Bishop  Mackenzie  he 
wrote  of  him  to  Mr.  Maclear  in  the  highest  terms  :  "  The 
Bishop  is  A 1 ,  and  in  his  readiness  to  put  his  hand  to  any- 
thing resembles  much  my  good  father-in-law  Moffat." 

It  is  not  often  that  missions  are  over-manned,  but  in 
the  first  stage  of  such  an  undertaking  as  this,  so  large  a 
body  of  men  was  an  incumbrance,  none  of  them  knowing 
a  word  of  the  language  or  a  bit  of  the  way.  It  was 
Bishop  Mackenzie's  desire  that  Dr.  Livingstone  should 
accompany  him  at  once  to  the  scene  of  his  future  labours 
and  help  him  to  settle.  But  besides  other  reasons, 
the  "  Pioneer,"  as  already  stated,  was  under  orders  to 
explore  the  Rovuma,  and,  as  the  Portuguese  put  so  many 
obstacles  in  the  way  on  the  Zambesi,  to  ascertain  whether 
that  river  might  not  afford  access  to  the  Nyassa  district. 
It  was  at  last  arranged  that  the  Bishop  should  first 
go  with  the  Doctor  to  the  Rovuma,  and  thereafter  they 
would  go  together  to  the  Shke.     In  waiting  for  Bishop 


284  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xiv. 

Mackenzie  to  accompany  him,  Dr.  Livingstone  lost  the 
most  favourable  part  of  the  season,  and  found  that  he 
could  not  get  with  the  "  Pioneer"  to  the  top  of  the 
Rovuma.  He  might  have  left  the  ship  and  pushed  for- 
ward on  foot ;  but,  not  to  delay  Bishop  Mackenzie,  he  left 
the  Rovuma  in  the  meantime,  intending,  after  making 
arrangements  with  the  Bishop,  to  go  to  Nyassa,  to  find 
the  point  where  the  Rovuma  left  the  lake,  if  there  were 
such  a  point,  or,  if  not,  get  into  its  head-waters  and 
explore  it  downwards. 

Dr.  Livingstone,  as  we  have  seen,  welcomed  the 
Mission  right  cordially,  for  indeed  it  was  what  he  had 
been  most  eagerly  prapng  for,  and  he  believed  that  it 
would  be  the  beginning  of  all  blessing  to  Eastern  and 
Central  Africa,  and  help  to  assimilate  the  condition  of  the 
East  Coast  to  that  of  the  West.  The  field  for  the  cultiva- 
tion of  cotton  which  he  had  discovered  alono^  the  Shu^e  and 
Lake  Nyassa  was  immense,  above  400  miles  in  length, 
and  now  it  seemed  as  if  commerce  and  Christianity  were 
going  to  take  possession  ol  it.  But  it  was  found  that 
the  turning-point  of  prosperity  had  been  reached,  and  it 
was  his  lot  to  encounter  dark  reverses.  The  navio-ation 
of  the  Shire  was  difficult,  for  the  "  Pioneer  "  being  deep  in 
the  water  would  often  run  ag^round.  On  these  occasions 
the  Bishop,  Mr.  Scudamore,  and  Mr.  Waller,  the  best  and 
and  bravest  of  the  missionary  party,  were  ever  ready  with 
their  help  in  hauling.  Livingstone  was  sometimes  scan- 
dalised to  see  the  Bishop  toiling  in  the  hot  sun,  while 
some  of  his  subordinates  were  reading  or  writing  in  the 
cabin.  As  they  proceeded  up  the  Shire  it  was  seen  that 
the  promises  of  assistance  from  the  Portuguese  Government 
were  worse  than  fruitless.  Evidently  the  Portugiiese 
traders  were  pushing  the  slave-trade  with  greater  eager- 
ness than  ever.  Slave-hunting  chiefs  were  marauding 
the  country,  driving  peaceful  inhabitants  before  them, 
destroying   their   crops,  seizing  on   all  the    people  they 


1 86 1-62.]  UNIVERSITIES  MISSION.  285 

could  lay  hands  on,  and  selling  them  as  slaves.  The 
contrast  to  what  Livingstone  had  seen  on  his  last  journey 
was  lamentable^  All  then-  prospects  were  overcast.  How 
could  commerce  or  Christianity  flourish  in  countries 
desolated  by  war  ? 

Every  readef  of  The  Zambesi  and  its  Tributaries 
remembers  the  frightful  picture  of  the  slave-sticks,  and 
the  row  of  men,  women,  and  children  whom  Livingstone 
and  his  companions  set  free.  Nothing  helped  more  than 
this  picture  to  rouse  in  English  bosoms  an  intense  horror 
of  the  trade,  and  a  burning  sympathy  with  Livingstone 
and  his  friends.  Livingstone  and  the  Bishop,  with  his 
party  had  gone  up  the  Shire  to  Chibisa's,  and  were 
halting  at  the  village  of  Mbame,  when  a  slave  party  came 
along.  The  flight  of  the  drivers,  the  liberation  of  eighty- 
four  men  and  women,  and  their  reception  by  the  good  Bishop 
under  his  charge,  speedily  followed.  The  aggressors 
were  the  neighbouring  warlike  tribe  of  Ajawa,  and  their 
victims  were  the  Manganja,  the  inhabitants  of  the  Shu-e 
valley.  The  Bishop  accepted  the  invitation  of  Chigunda, 
a  Manganja  chief,  to  settle  at  Magomero.  It  was 
thought,  however,  desirable  for  the  Bishop  and  Living- 
stone first  to  visit  the  Ajawa  chief,  and  try  to  turn  him 
from  his  murderous  ways.  The  road  was  frightful — 
through  burning  villages  resounding  with  the  wailings  of 
women  and  the  shouts  of  the  warriors.  The  Ajawa 
received  the  offered  visit  m  a  hostile  spirit,  and  the 
shout  being  raised  that  Chibisa  had  come — a  powerful 
chief  with  the  reputation  of  being  a  sorcerer — they  fired 
on  the  Bishop's  party  and  compelled  them,  in  self-defence, 
to  fire  in  return.  It  was  the  first  time  that  Livingstone 
had  ever  been  so  attacked  by  natives,  often  though  they 
had  threatened  him.  It  was  the  first  time  he  had  had  to 
repel  an  attack  with  violence  ;  so  little  was  he  thinking 
of  such  a  thing  that  he  had  not  his  rifle  with  him,  and 
was  obliged  to  borrow  a  revolver.     The  encounter  was  hot 


286  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  [chap.  xiv. 

and  serious,  but  it  ended  in  the  Ajawa  being  driv^en  off 
without  loss  on  the  other  side. 

It  now  became  a  question  for  the  Bishop  in  what 
relation  he  and  his  party  were  to  stand  to  these  mur- 
derous and  marauding  Ajawa — whether  they  should 
quietly  witness  their  onslaughts  or  drive  them  from  the 
country  and  rescue  the  captive  Manganja.  Livingstone's 
advice  to  them  was  to  be  patient,  and  to  avoid  taking 
part  in  the  quarrels  of  the  natives.  He  then  left  them  at 
Magomero,  and  returned  to  his  companions  on  the  Shu'e. 
For  a  time  the  Bishop's  party  followed  Livingstone's 
advice,  but  cu-cumstances  afterwards  occurred  which 
constrained  them  to  take  a  different  course,  and  led  to 
very  serious  results  in  the  history  of  the  Mission. 

Writinof  to  his  son  Robert,  Livino-stone  thus  describes 
the  attack  made  by  the  Ajawa  on  him,  the  Bishop,  and 
the  missionaries  : — 

"The  slave-hunters  had  induced  a  number  of  another  tribe  to 
capture  people  for  them.  We  came  to  this  tribe  while  burning  three 
villages,  and  though  we  told  them  that  we  came  peaceably,  and  to  talk 
with  them,  they  saw  that  we  were  a  small  party,  and  might  easily  be 
overcome,  rushed  at  us  and  shot  their  poisoned  arrows.  One  fell 
between  the  Bishop  and  me,  and  another  Avhizzed  between  another 
man  and  me.  We  had  to  drive  them  off,  and  they  left  that  part  of 
the  country.  Before  going  near  them  the  Bishop  engaged  in  prayer, 
and  during  the  prayer  we  could  hear  the  wail  for  the  dead  by  some 
Manganja  probably  thought  not  worth  killing,  and  the  shouts  of 
welcome  home  to  these  bloody  murderers.  It  turned  out  that  they 
Avere  only  some  sixty  or  seventy  robbers,  and  not  the  Ajawa  tribe ;  so 
we  had  a  narrow  escape  from  being  murdered. 

"  How  are  you  doing?  I  fear  from  what  I  have  observed  of  your 
temperament  that  you  will  have  to  strive  against  fickleness.  Every 
one  has  his  besetting  fault — that  is  no  disgrace  to  him,  but  it  is  a  dis- 
grace if  he  do  not  find  it  out,  and  by  God's  grace  overcome  it.  I  am 
not  near  to  advise  you  what  to  do,  but  whatever  line  of  life  you 
choose,  resolve  to  stick  to  it,  and  serve  God  therein  to  the  last. 
AVhatever  failings  you  are  conscious  of,  tell  them  to  your  heavenly 
Father;  strive  daily  to  master  them  and  confess  all  to  Him  when  con- 
scious of  having  gone  astray.  And  may  the  good  Lord  of  all  impart  all 
the  strength  you  need.  Commit  your  way  unto  the  Lord  ;  trust  also 
in  Him.     Acknowledge  Him  in  all  your  ways,  and  He  will  bless  you." 


i86i-62.]  ROVUMA  AND  NYASSA.  zZ>j 

Leavino'  the  "  Pioneer "  at  Chibisa's,  on  Gtli  Auorust 
186],  Livingstone,  accompanied  by  his  brother  and  Dr. 
Kirk,  started  for  Nyassa  with  a  four-oared  boat,  which 
was  carried  by  porters  past  the  Murchison  Cataracts. 
On  23d  September  they  sailed  into  Lake  Nyassa,  naming 
the  grand  mountainous  promontory  at  the  end  Cape 
Maclear,  after  Livingstone's  great  friend  the  Astronomer- 
Koyal  at  the  Cape. 

All  about  the  lake  was  now  examined  with  earnest 
eyes.  The  population  was  denser  than  he  had  seen  any- 
where else.  The  people  were  civil,  and  even  friendly,  but 
undoubtedly  they  were  not  handsome.  At  the  north  of 
the  lake  they  were  lawless,  and  at  one  point  the  party 
were  robbed  in  the  night — the  first  time  such  a  thing  had 
occurred  in  Livingstone's  African  life.^  Of  elephants 
there  was  great  abundance, — indeed  of  all  animal  and 
veofetable  life. 

But  the  lake  slave-trade  was  going  on  at  a  dismal  rate. 

'  In  The  Zamheni  and  its  Tributaries,  Livingstone  gives  a  grave  account  of  the 
robbery.  In  his  letters  to  his  friends  he  makes  fun  of  it,  as  he  did  of  the  raid 
of  the  Boers.  To  Mr.  F.  Fitch  he  -wntes  :  "You  think  I  cannot  get  into  a  scrape. 
.  .  .  For  the  first  time  in  Africa  we  were  robbed.  Expert  thieves  crept  into  our 
sleeping  places,  about  four  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  made  off  with  what  they 
could  lay  their  hands  on.  Sheer  over-modesty  ruined  me.  It  was  Sunday,  and 
such  a  black  mass  swarmed  around  our  sail,  which  we  used  as  a  hut,  that  we  could 
not  hear  prayers.  I  had  before  slipped  away  a  quarter  of  a  mile  to  dress  for 
church,  but  seeing  a  crowd  of  women  watching  me  through  the  reeds,  I  did  not 
change  my  old  'unmentionables,' — they  were  so  old,  I  had  serious  thoughts  of 
converting  them  into — charity  !  Next  morning  early  all  our  spare  clothing  was 
walked  off  with,  and  there  I  was  left  by  my  modesty  nearly  through  at  the  knees, 
and  no  change  of  shirt,  flannel,  or  stockings.  ,  After  that,  don't  say  that  I  can't 
get  into  a  scrape  !  "  The  same  letter  thanks  Mr.  Fitch  for  sending  him  Punch, 
whom  he  deemed  a  sound  divine  !  On  the  same  subject  he  wrote  at  another  time, 
regretting  that  Punch  did  not  reach  him,  esjjecially  a  number  in  which  notice  was 
taken  of  himself.  "  It  never  came.  Who  the  miscreants  are  that  steal  them  I 
cannot  divine.  I  would  not  grudge  them  a  reading  if  they  would  only  send  them 
on  afterwards.  Perhaps  binding  the  whole  year's  Punches  would  be  the  best 
plan;  and  then  we  need  not  label  it  'Sermons  in  Lent,'  or  'Tracts  on  Homoeo- 
pathy,' but  you  may  write  inside,  as  Dr.  Buckland  did  on  his  umbrella,  'Stolen 
from  Dr.  Livingstone.'  We  really  enjoy  them  very  much.  They  are  good  against 
fever.  The  'Essence  of  Parliament,'  for  instance,  is  capital.  One  has  to  wade 
through  an  ocean  of  paper  to  get  the  same  information,  without  any  of  the  fun. 
And  by  the  time  the  newspapers  have  X'eached  us,  most  of  the  interest  in  public 
matters  has  evaporated." 


288  DA  VID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xiv. 

An  Arab  dhow  was  seen  on  the  lake,  but  it  kept  well  out 
of  the  way.  Dr.  Livingstone  was  informed  by  Colonel 
Piigby,  late  British  Consul  at  Zanzibar,  that  19,000  slaves 
from  this  Nyassa  region  alone  passed  annually  through 
the  Custom- House  there.  This  was  besides  those  landed 
at  Portuguese  slave  ports.  In  addition  to  those  captured, 
thousands  were  killed  or  died  of  their  wounds  or  of 
famine,  or  perished  in  other  ways,  so  that  not  one-fifth  of 
the  victims  became  slaves — in  the  Nyassa  district  pro- 
bably not  one-tenth.  A  small  armed  steamer  on  the 
lake  might  stop  nearly  the  whole  of  this  wdiolesale  robbery 
and  murder. 

Their  stock  of  goods  being  exhausted,  and  no  pro- 
visions being  procurable,  the  party  had  to  return,  at  the 
end  of  October.  They  had  to  abandon  the  project  of 
getting  from  the  lake  to  the  Hovuma,  and  exploring 
eastwards.  They  reached  the  ship  on  8  th  November 
18G1,  having  suffered  more  from  hunger  than  on  any 
previous  trip. 

In  writing  to  his  friend  Young,  28th  November  1861, 
Livingstone  expresses  his  joy  at  the  news  of  the  depar- 
ture of  the  "  Lady  Nyassa  ; "  gives  him  an  account  of  the 
lake,  and  of  a  terrific  storm  in  which  they  W'ere  nearly 
lost ;  describes  the  inhabitants,  and  the  terrible  slave- 
trade — the  only  trade  that  was  carried  on  in  the  district. 
It  wdll  take  them  the  best  part  of  a  year  to  put  the  ship 
on  the  lake,  but  it  will  be  such  a  blessing !  He  hopes 
the  Government  will  pay  for  it,  once  it  is  there. 

The  colonisation  project  had  not  commended  itself  to 
Sir  K.  Murchison.  He  had  written  of  it  sometime  before  : 
"  Your  colonisation  scheme  does  not  meet  with  supporters, 
it  being  thought  that  you  must  have  much  more  hold  on 
the  country  before  you  attract  Scotch  famihes  to  emigrate 
and  settle  there,  and  then  die  off,  or  become  a  burden  to 
you  and  all  concerned,  like  the  settlers  of  old  at  Darien." 
It    was    with   much   satisfaction   that  Livingstone    now 


i86i-62.]  UNIVERSITIES  MISSION.  289 

wrote  to  his  friend  (25th  November  1861):  "A  Dr.  Stewart 
is  sent  out  by  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland  to  confer 
with  me  about  a  Scotch  colony.  You  will  guess  my 
answer.  Dr.  Kirk  is  with  me  in  opinion,  and  if  I  could 
only  get  you  out  to  take  a  trip  up  to  the  plateau  of 
Zomba,  and  over  the  uplands  which  surround  Lake 
Nyassa,  you  would  give  in  too." 

When  the  party  returned  to  the  ship  they  had  a 
visit  from  Bishop  Mackenzie,  who  was  in  good  spirits  and 
had  excellent  hopes  of  the  Mission.  The  Ajawa  had  been 
defeated,  and  had  professed  a  desire  to  be  at  peace  with 
the  English.  But  Dr.  Livingstone  was  not  without  mis- 
givings on  this  point.  The  details  of  the  defeat  of  the 
Ajawa,  in  which  the  missionaries  had  taken  an  active  part, 
troubled  him,  as  we  find  from  his  private  Journal. 
"The  Bishop,"  he  says  (14th  November),  "takes  a  totally 
different  view  of  the  afi'air  from  what  I  do."  There  were 
other  points  on  which  the  utter  inexperience  of  the  mis- 
sionaries, and  want  of  skill  in  dealing  with  the  natives, 
gave  him  serious  anxiety.  It  is  impossible  not  to  see 
that  even  thus  early,  the  Mission,  in  Livingstone's  eyes, 
had  lost  somethinof  of  its  bloom. 

It  was  arranged  that  the  "Pioneer"  should  go  down 
to  the  mouth  of  the  Zambesi,  to  meet  a  man-of-war  with 
provisions,  and  bring  up  the  pieces  of  the  new  lake  vessel, 
the  "  Lady  Nyassa,"  which  was  eagerly  expected,  along 
with  Mrs.  Livingstone,  Miss  Mackenzie  the  Bishop's 
sister,  and  other  members  of  the  Mission  party.  An 
appointment  was  made  for  January  at  the  mouth  of  the 
river  Kuo,  a  tributary  of  the  Shire,  where  the  Bishop  was 
to  meet  them.  He  and  Mr.  Burrup,  who  had  just  arrived, 
were  meanwhile  to  explore  the  neighbouring  country. 

The  "  Pioneer  "  was  detained  for  five  weeks  on  a  shoal 
twenty  miles  below  Chibisa's,  and  here  the  first  death 
occurred — the  carpenter's  mate  succumbed  to  fever.  It 
was  extremely  irksome  to  sujBPer  this  long  detention,  to 

T 


290  DA  VID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xiv. 

think  of  fuel  and  provisions  wasting,  and  salaries  running 
on,  without  one  particle  of  progress.  Livingstone  was 
sensitive  and  anxious.  He  speaks  in  his  Journal  of  the 
difficulty  of  feeling  resigned  to  the  Divine  will  in  all 
thino's,  and  of  believinof  that  all  thinw-s  work  to"'ether  for 
good  to  those  that  love  God.  He  seems  to  have  been 
troubled  at  what  had  been  said  in  some  quarters  of  his 
treatment  of  members  of  the  Expedition.  In  private 
letters,  in  the  Cape  papers,  in  the  home  papers,  unfavour- 
able representations  of  his  conduct  had  been  made.  In 
one  case,  a  prosecution  at  law  had  been  threatened.  On 
New  Year's  Day  18G2  he  entered  in  his  Journal  an 
elaborate  minute,  as  if  for  future  use,  bearing  on  the 
conduct  of  the  Expedition.  He  refers  to  the  difficulty 
to  wdiich  civil  expeditions  are  exposed,  as  compared  with 
naval  and  military,  in  the  matter  of  discipline,  owing  to 
the  inferior  authority  and  power  of  the  chief  In  the 
countries  visited  there  is  no  enlightened  public  opinion 
to  support  the  commander,  and  newspapers  at  home  are 
but  too  ready  to  believe  in  his  tyranny,  and  make  them- 
selves the  champions  of  any  dawdling  fellow  who  would 
fain  be  counted  a  victim  of  his  despotism.  He  enumerates 
the  chief  troubles  to  which  his  Expedition  had  been  ex- 
posed from  such  causes.  Then  he  exj^lains  how,  at  the 
beginning,  to  prevent  colHsion,  he  had  made  every  man 
independent  in  his  own  department,  wishing  only,  for 
himself,  to  be  the  means  of  making  known  to  the  world 
what  each  man  had  done.  His  conclusion  is  a  sad  one, 
but  it  explains  why  in  his  last  journeys  he  went  alone  : 
he  is  convinced  that  if  he  had  been  by  himself  he  would 
have  accomplished  more,  and  undoubtedly  he  would  have 
received  more  of  the  apjorobation  of  his  countrymen.^ 
At  length  the  "  Pioneer  "  was  got  off  the  bank,  and  on 

'  Notwithstanding  this  expression  of  feeling,  Dr.  Livingstone  was  very  sincere 
in  his  handsome  acknowledgments,  in  the  Introduction  to  The  ZamJiesi  and  its 
Tributaries,  of  valuable  services,  especially  fi-om  the  members  of  the  Expedition 
there  named. 


i86i-62.]  UNIVERSITIES  MISSION.  291 

the  11th  January  1862  they  entered  the  Zambesi.  They 
proceeded  to  the  great  Luabo  mouth,  as  being  more 
advantageous  than  the  Kongone  for  a  supply  of  wood. 
They  were  a  month  behind  their  appointment,  and  no 
ship  was  to  be  seen.  The  ship  had  been  there,  it  turned 
out,  on  the  8th  January,  had  looked  eagerly  for  the 
"  Pioneer,"  had  fancied  it  saw  the  black  funnel  and  its 
smoke  in  the  river,  and  being  disappointed  had  made  for 
Mozambique,  been  caught  in  a  gale,  and  v\^as  unable  to 
return  for  three  weeks.  Livingstone's  letters  show  him  a 
httle  out  of  sorts  at  the  manifold  obstructions  that  had 
always  been  making  him  "  too  late " — "  too  late  for 
Rovuma  below,  too  late  for  Rovuma  above,  and  now  too 
late  for  our  own  appointment,"  but  in  greater  trouble 
because  the  "  Lady  Nyassa  "  had  not  been  sent  by  sea, 
as  he  had  strongly  urged,  and  as  it  afterwards  appeared 
might  have  been  done  quite  well.  To  take  out  the 
pieces  and  fit  them  up  would  involve  heavy  expense  and 
long  delay,  and  perhaps  the  season  would  be  lost  again. 
But  Livingstone  had  always  a  saving  clause,  in  all  his 
lamentations,  and  here  it  is  :  "I  know  that  all  Avas  done 
for  the  best." 

At  length,  on  the  last  day  of  January,  H.M.S. 
"  Gorgon,"  with  a  brig  in  tow,  hove  in  sight.  When  the 
"  Pioneer "  was  seen,  up  went  the  signal  from  the 
"Gorgon"-^ — "I  have  steamboat  in  the  brig ; "  to  which 
Livingstone  replied — "  Welcome  news."  Then  "  Wife 
aboard  "  was  signalled  from  the  ship  ; — "  Accept  my 
best  thanks "  concluded  what  Livingstone  called  "  the 
most  interesting  conversation  he  had  engaged  in  for 
many  a  day."  Next  morning  the  "  Pioneer "  steamed 
out,  and  Dr.  Livingstone  found  his  wife  "  all  right."  In 
the  same  ship  with  Mrs.  Livingstone,  besides  Miss  Mac- 
kenzie and  Mrs.  Burrup,  the  Rev.  E.  Hawkins  and  others 
of  the  Universities  Mission,  had  come  the  Rev.  James 
Stewart  of  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland  (now  Dr.  Stewart 


292  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xiv. 

of  Lovedale,  South  Africa),  who  had  been  sent  out  by  a 
committee  of  that  Church,  "to  meet  with  Dr.  Livingstone, 
and  obtain,  by  personal  observation  and  otherwise,  the 
information  that  might  be  necessary  to  enable  a  com- 
mittee at  home  to  form  a  correct  judgment  as  to  the 
possibility  of  founding  a  mission  in  that  part  of  Africa." 
It  happened  that  some  time  before  Mr.  Stewart  had 
been  tutor  to  Thomas  Livingstone,  while  studying  in 
Glasgow  ;  this  drew  his  sympathies  to  Livingstone  and 
Africa,  and  was  another  link  in  that  wonderful  chain  which 
Providence  was  making  for  the  good  of  Africa.  From  Dr. 
Stewart's  "  Recollections  of  Dr.  Livingstone  and  the  Zam- 
besi" in  the  Sundcuj  Magazine  (November  1874),  we  get  the 
picture  from  the  other  side.  Fu^st,  the  sad  disappointment 
of  Mrs.  Livingstone  on  the  8th  January,  when  no  "Pioneer" 
was  to  be  found,  with  the  anxious  speculations  raised 
in  its  absence  as  to  the  cause.  Then  a  frightful  tornado 
on  the  way  to  IMozambique,  and  the  all  but  miraculous 
escape  of  the  brig.  Then  the  return  to  the  Zambesi 
in  company  with  H.M.S.  "Gorgon,"  and  on  the  1st  Feb- 
ruary, in  a  lovely  morning,  the  little  cloud  of  smoke  rising 
close  to  land,  and  afterwards  the  white  hull  of  a  small 
paddle  steamer  making  straight  for  the  two  ships  outside. 

"  As  the  vessel  approached,"  says  Dr.  Stewart,  "  I  could  make  out 
with  a  glass  a  firmly  built  man  of  about  the  middle  height,  standing 
on  the  port  paddle-box,  and  directing  the  ship's  course.  He  was  not 
exactly  dressed  as  a  naval  officer,  but  he  wore  that  gold-laced  cap  which 
has  since  become  so  well  known  both  at  home  and  in  Africa.  This 
was  Dr.  Livingstone,  and  I  said  to  his  wife, '  There  he  is  at  last.'  She 
looked  brighter  at  this  announcement  than  I  had  seen  her  do  any  day 
for  seven  months  before." 

Through  the  help  of  the  men  of  the  "  Gorgon,"  the 
sections  of  the  "  Lady  Nyassa "  were  speedily  put  on 
board  the  "Pioneer,"  and  on  the  10th  February  the 
vessel  steamed  off  for  the  mouth  of  the  Puo,  to  meet  the 
Bishop.  But  its  progress  through  the  river  was  miser- 
able.    Says  Dr.  Stewart : — 


1 86 1-62.]  UNIVERSITIES  MISSION.  293 

"  For  ten  days  we  were  chiefly  occupied  in  sailing  or  liauling  the 
ship  through  sandbanks.  The  steamer  was  drawing  between  five  and 
six  feet  of  water,  and  though  there  were  long  reaches  of  the  river  with 
depth  sufficient  for  a  ship  of  larger  draught,  yet  every  now  and  then 
we  found  ourselves  in  shoal  water  of  about  three  feet.  No  sooner  was 
the  boat  got  off  one  bank  l)y  might  and  main,  and  steady  hauling  on 
capstan  and  anchor  laid  out  ahead,  almost  never  astern,  and  we  got  a 
few  miles  of  fair  steering,  than  again  we  heard  that  sound,  abhorred 
by  all  of  us — a  slight  bump  of  the  bow,  and  rush  of  sand  along  the 
ship's  side,  and  we  were  again  fast  for  a  few  hours,  or  a  day  or  two,  as 
the  case  might  be." 

The  "  Pioneer "  was  overladen,  and  the  plan  had  to 
be  changed.  It  was  resolved  to  put  the  "  Lady  Nyassa" 
together  at  Shupanga,  and  tow  her  up  to  the  Rapids. 

"  The  detention,"  says  Dr.  Stewart,  "  was  very  trying  to  Dr.  Living- 
stone, as  it  meant  not  a  few  weeks,  but  the  loss  of  a  year,  inasmuch 
as  by  the  time  the  ship  was  ready  to  be  launched  the  river  would  be 
nearly  at  its  lowest,  and  there  would  be  no  resource  but  to  wait  for 
the  next  rainy  season.  Yet,  in  the  face  of  discouragement,  he  main- 
tained his  cheerfulness,  and,  after  sunset,  still  enjoyed  many  an  hour 
of  prolonged  talk  about  current  events  at  home,  about  his  old  College 
days  in  Glasgow,  and  about  many  of  those  who  were  unknown  men 
then,  but  have  since  made  their  mark  in  life  in  the  different  paths 
they  have  taken.  Amongst  others  his  old  friend  Mr.  Young  of  Kelly, 
or  Sir  Paraffin,  as  he  used  subsequently  to  call  him,  came  in  for  a  large 
share  of  the  conversation." 

Meanwhile  Captain  Wilson  (of  the  "  Gorgon"),  accom- 
panied by  Dr.  Kirk  and  others,  had  gone  on  in  boats  with 
Miss  Mackenzie  and  Mrs.  Burrup,  and  learned  the  sad 
fate  of  the  Bishop  and  Mr.  Burrup.  It  appeared  that  the 
Bishop,  accompanied  by  the  Makololo,  had  gone  forth  on 
an  expedition  to  rescue  the  captive  husbands  of  some  of 
the  Manganja  women,  and  had  been  successful.  But  as 
the  Bishop  was  trying  to  get  to  the  mouth  of  the  Ruo, 
his  canoe  was  upset,  his  medicines  and  cordials  were  lost, 
and,  being  seized  with  fever,  after  languishing  for  some 
time,  he  died  in  distressing  circumstances,  on  the 
31st  January.  Mr.  Burrup,  who  was  with  him,  and  who 
was  also  stricken,  was  carried  back"  to  Magomero,  and 
died  in  a  few  days. 


2  94  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xiv. 

Captain.  Wilson,  who  had  himself  been  prostrated  by 
fever,  and  made  a  narrow  escape,  returned  with  this  sad 
news,  three  weeks  after  he  had  left  Shupanga,  bringing 
the  two  broken-hearted  ladies,  who  had  expected  to  be 
welcomed,  the  one  by  her  brother,  the  other  by  her 
husband.     It  was  a  great  blow  to  Livingstone. 

"  It  was  difficult  to  say,"  writes  Dr.  Stewart,  "  whether  he  or  the 
unhappy  ladies,  on  whom  the  blow  fell  with  the  most  personal  weight, 
were  most  to  be  pitied.  He  felt  the  responsibility,  and  saw  the  wide- 
spread dismay  which  the  news  would  occasion  when  it  reached  England, 
and  at  the  very  time  when  the  Mission  most  needed  support.  '  This 
will  luirt  us  all,'  he  said,  as  he  sat  resting  his  head  on  his  hand,  on  the 
table  of  the  dimly-lighted  little  cabin  of  the  '  Pioneer.'  His  esteem  for 
Bishop  ^Mackenzie  was  afterwards  expressed  in  this  way  :  '  For  un- 
selfish goodness  of  heart  and  earnest  devotion  to  the  work  he  had 
nndertaken,  it  can  safely  be  said  that  none  of  the  commendations  of 
his  friends  can  exceed  the  reality.'  He  did  what  he  could,  I  believe, 
to  comfort  those  who  were  so  unexpectedly  bereaved ;  but  the  night 
he  spent  must  have  been  an  uneasy  one." 

Livino-stone  says  in  his  book  that  the  unfavourable 
judgment  which  he  had  formed  of  the  Bishop's  conduct 
in  fighting  with  the  Ajawa  was  somewhat  modified  by  a 
natural  instinct,  when  he  saw  how  keenly  the  Bishop  was 
run  do^Mi  for  it  in  England,  and  reflected  more  on 
the  circumstances,  and  thought  how  excellent  a  man  he 
was.  Sometimes  he  even  said  that,  had  he  been  there, 
he  would  probably  have  done  what  the  Bishop  did.^ 
AYhy,  then,  it  may  be  asked,  was  Livingstone  so  ill- 
pleased  when  it  was  said  that  all  that  the  Bishop  had 
done  was  done  by  his  advice  ?  No  one  w411  ask  this 
question  who  reads  the  terms  of  a  letter  by  Mr.  Bowley, 
one  of  the  Mission  party,  first  jDublished  in  the  Cape 
papers,  and  copied  into  the   Times  in  November  18G2. 

1  Writing  to  Mr.  Waller,  12tli  February  1863,  Dr.  Livingstone  said  :  "I 
thought  you  wrong  in  attacking  the  Ajawa,  till  I  looked  on  it  as  defence  of  your 
orphans.  I  thought  that  you  had  shut  j-ourselves  up  to  one  tribe,  and  that,  the 
!Manganja  ;  but  I  think  differently  now,  and  only  -wish  they  would  send  out  Dr. 
Pusej'  here.  He  would  learu  a  little  sense,  of  which  I  suppose  I  have  need 
myself. " 


1 86 1 -6 2.]  UNIVERSITIES  MISSION.  295 

It  was  said  there  that  "  from  the  moment  when  Living- 
stone commenced  the  release  of  slaves,  his  course  was  one 
of  aggression.  He  hunted  for  slaving  parties  in  every 
direction,  and  when  he  heard  of  the  Ajawa  making  slaves 
in  order  to  sell  to  the  slavers,  he  went  designedly  in 
search  of  them,  and  intended  to  take  their  captives  from 
them  by  force  if  needful.  It  is  true  that  when  he  came 
upon  them  he  found  them  to  be  a  more  pow^erful  body 
than  he  expected,  and  had  they  not  fired  first,  he  might 
have  withdrawn.  .  .  .  His  parting  words  to  the  chiefs 
just  before  he  left  .  .  .  were  to  this  effect :  '  You  have 
hitherto  seen  us  only  as  fighting  men,  but  it  is  not  in 
such  a  character  we  wish  you  to  know  us.'  "^  How  could 
Livingstone  be  otherwise  than  indignant  to  be  spoken  of 
as  if  the  use  of  force  had  been  his  habit,  while  the  whole 
tenor  of  his  life  had  gone  most  wonderfully  to  show  the 
efiicacy  of  gentle  and  brotherly  treatment  ?  How  could 
he  liut  be  vexed  at  having  the  odium  of  the  whole  pro- 
ceedings thrown  on  him,  when  his  last  advice  to  the 
missionaries  had  been  disregarded  by  them  ?  Or  how 
could  he  fail  to  be  concerned  at  the  discredit  which  the 
course  ascribed  to  him  must  bring  upon  the  Expedition 
under  his  command,  which  was  entirely  separate  from  the 
Mission  ?  It  was  the  unhandsome  treatment  of  hunself 
and  reckless  perilling  of  the  character  and  interests  of  his 
Expedition  in  order  to  shield  others,  that  raised  liis  indig- 
nation. "  Good  Bishop  Mackenzie,"  he  wrote  to  his  friend 
Mr.  Fitch,  "  would  never  have  tried  to  screen  himself  by 
accusing  me."  In  point  of  fact,  a  few  years  afterwards 
the  Portuguese  Government,  through  Mr.  Lacerda,  when 
complaining  bitterly  of  the  statements  of  Livingstone  in  a 
speech  at  Bath,  in  1865,  referred  to  Mr.  Rowley's  letter  as 
bearing  out  their  complaint.    It  served  admii'ably  to  give  an 

1  Mr.  Rowley  afterwards  (February  22,  1S65)  expressed  his  regret  that  this 
letter  was  ever  written,  as  it  had  produced  an  ill  effect.  See  The  Zambesi  and 
its  Tributaries,  p.  475  note. 


296  DA  VJD  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xiv. 

unfavourable  view  of  his  aims  and  methods,  as  from  one 
of  his  own  allies.  Dr.  Livingstone  never  allowed  himself 
to  cherish  any  other  feeling  but  that  of  high  regard  for 
the  self-denial  and  Christian  heroism  of  the  Bishop,  and 
many  of  his  coadjutors  ;  but  he  did  feel  that  most  of  them 
were  ill-adapted  for  their  work  and  had  a  great  deal  to 
learn,  and  that  the  manner  in  which  he  had  been  turned 
aside  from  the  direct  objects  of  his  o\yi\  enterprise  by 
having  to  look  after  so  many  inexperienced  men,  and 
then  blamed  for  what  he  deprecated,  and  what  was  done 
in  his  absence,  was  rather  more  than  it  was  reasonable 
for  him  to  bear.^ 

Writing  of  the  terrible  loss  of  Mackenzie  and  Burrup 
to  the  Bishop  of  Cape  Town,  Livingstone  says  :  "  The  blow 
is  quite  bewildering ;  the  two  strongest  men  so  quickly 
cut  down,  and  one  of  them,  humanly  speaking,  indis- 
pensable to  the  success  of  the  enterprise.  We  must  bow 
to  the  will  of  Him  who  doeth  all  things  well ;  but  I  cannot 
help  feeling  sadly  disturbed  in  view  of  the  effect  the  news 
may  have  at  home.  /  shall  not  swerve  a  hairbreadth 
from  my  work  while  life  is  spared,  and  I  trust  the  sup- 
porters of  the  Mission  may  not  shrink  back  from  all  that 
they  have  set  their  hearts  to." 

The  next  few  weeks  were  employed  in  taking  Miss 
Mackenzie  and  Mrs,  Burrup  to  the  "  Gorgon  "  on  their  way 
home.      It  was  a  painful  voyage  to  all — to  Dr.  and  Mrs. 

^  It  must  not  be  supposed  that  the  letter  of  Mr.  Rowley  expressed  the  mind  of 
his  brethren.  Some  of  them  were  greatly  annoyed  at  it,  and  used  their  influence 
to  induce  its  author  to  write  to  the  Cape  papers  that  he  had  conveyed  a  wrong 
impression.  In  writing  to  Sir  Thomas  Maclear  (20th  November  1862),  after 
seeing  Rowley's  letter  in  the  Cape  papers,  Dr.  Livingstone  said  :  "  It  is  untrue 
that  I  ever  on  any  one  occasion  adopted  an  aggressive  policy  against  the  Ajawa,  or 
took  slaves  from  them.  Slaves  were  taken  from  Portuguese  alone.  I  never 
liunted  the  Ajawa,  or  took  the  part  of  Manganja  against  Ajawa.  In  this  I  believe 
every  member  of  the  Mission  will  support  my  assertion."  Livingstone  declined 
to  WTite  a  contradiction  to  the  public  j^rints,  because  he  knew  the  harm  that  would 
be  done  by  a  charge  against  a  clergyman.  In  this  lie  showed  the  same  magna- 
nimity and  high  Christian  self-denial  which  he  had  shown  when  he  left  Mabotsa. 
It  was  only  Avhen  the  Portuguese  claimed  the  benefit  of  Rowley's  testimony  that 
he  let  the  public  see  what  its  value  was. 


i86i-62.]  UNIVERSITIES  MISSION.  297 

Livingstone,  to  Miss  Mackenzie  and  Mrs.  Burrup,  and 
last,  not  least,  to  Captain  Wilson,  who  had  been  separ- 
ated so  long  from  his  ship,  and  had  risked  life,  position, 
and  everything,  to  do  service  to  a  cause  which  in  spite  of 
all  he  left  at  a  much  lower  ebb. 

When  the  '"Pioneer"  arrived  at  the  bar,  it  was  found 
that  owing  to  the  weather  the  ship  had  been  forced  to 
leave  the  coast,  and  she  did  not  return  for  a  fortnight. 
There  was  thus  another  long  waiting  from  17th  March  to 
2d  April.  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Livingstone  then  returned  to 
Shupanga.  The  long  detention  in  the  most  unhealthy- 
season  of  the  year,  and  when  fever  was  at  its  height,  was 
a  sad,  sad  calamity. 

We  are  now  arrived  at  the  last  illness  and  the  death 
of  Mrs.  Livingstone.  After  she  had  parted  from  her 
husband  at  the  Cape  in  the  spring  of  1858,  she  returned 
with  her  parents  to  Kuruman,  and  in  November  gave 
birth  there  to  her  youngest  child,  Anna  Mary.  There- 
after she  returned  to  Scotland  to  be  near  her  other 
children.  Some  of  them  were  at  school.  No  comfortable 
home  for  them  all  could  be  formed,  and  though  many 
friends  were  kind,  the  time  was  not  a  happy  one.  Mrs. 
Livingstone's  desire  to  be  with  her  husband  was  intense ; 
not  only  the  longings  of  an  affectionate  heart,  and  the 
necessity  of  taking  counsel  with  him  about  the  fiimily, 
but  the  feeling  that  when  overshadowed  by  one  whose 
faith  was  so  strong  her  fluttermg  heart  would  regain  its 
steady  tone,  and  she  would  be  better  able  to  help  both 
him  and  the  children,  gave  vehemence  to  this  desire.  Her 
letters  to  her  husband  tell  of  much  spiritual  darkness ; 
his  replies  were  the  very  soul  of  tenderness  and  Christian 
earnestness.  Providence  seemed  to  favour  her  wish  ;  the 
vessel  in  which  she  sailed  was  preserved  from  imminent 
destruction,  and  she  had  the  great  happiness  of  finding 
her  husband  alive  and  well. 

On  the    21st  of  April  Mrs.  Livingstone  became  ill. 


298  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xiv. 

On  the  25th  the  symptoms  were  alarm.ing — vomitings 
every  quarter  of  an  hour,  which  prevented  any  medicine 
from  remaining  on  her  stomach.  On  the  26th  she  was 
worse  and  dehrious.  On  the  evening  of  Sunday  the  27th 
Dr.  Stewart  got  a  message  from  her  husband  that  the 
end  was  drawing  near.  "  He  was  sitting  by  the  side  of 
a  rude  bed  formed  of  boxes,  but  covered  with  a  soft 
mattress,  on  which  lay  his  dying  wife.  All  consciousness 
had  now  departed,  as  she  was  in  a  state  of  deep  coma, 
from  which  all  efforts  to  rouse  her  had  been  unavailing. 
The  strongest  medical  remedies  and  her  husband's  voice 
were  both  alike  powerless  to  reach  the  spirit  which  was 
still  there,  but  was  now  so  rapidly  sinking  into  the 
depths  of  slumber,  and  darkness,  and  death.  The  fixed- 
ness of  feature  and  the  oppressed  and  hea\^  breathing 
only  made  it  too  j)lain  that  the  end  was  near.  And  the 
man  Avho  had  faced  so  many  deaths,  and  braved  so  many 
dangers,  was  now  utterly  broken  down  and  weeping  like 
a  chdd." 

Dr.  Livingstone  asked  Dr.  Stewart  to  commend  her 
spirit  to  God,  and  along  with  Dr.  Kirk,  they  kneeled  in 
prayer  beside  her.  In  less  than  an  hour,  her  spirit  had 
returned  to  God.  Half-an-hour  after.  Dr.  Stewart  was 
struck  with  her  likeness  to  her  father.  Dr.  Moffat.  He 
was  afraid  to  utter  what  struck  him  so  much,  but  at  last 
he  said  to  Livingstone, — "  Do  you  notice  any  change  V 
"  Yes,"  he  replied,  without  raising  his  eyes  from  her  face, 
— "the  very  features  and  expression  of  her  father." 

Every  one  is  struck  with  the  calmness  of  Dr.  Living- 
stone's notice  of  his  wife's  death  in  The  Zambesi  and  its 
Tributaries.  Its  matter-of-fact  tone  only  shows  that  he 
regarded  that  book  as  a  sort  of  official  report  to  the  nation, 
in  which  it  would  not  be  becoming  for  him  to  introduce 
personal  feelings.  A  few  extracts  from  his  Journal  and 
letters  will  show  better  the  state  of  his  heart. 

"It  is  the  first  heavy  stroke  I  have  suffered,  and 


1 86 1-62.]  UNIVERSITIES  MISSION.  299 

quite  takes  away  my  strength.  I  wept  over  her  who 
well  deserved  many  tears.  I  loved  her  when  I  married 
her,  and  the  longer  I  lived  with  her  I  loved  her  the 
more.  God  pity  the  poor  children,  who  were  all  tenderly 
attached  to  her,  and  I  am  left  alone  in  the  world  by  one 
whom  I  felt  to  be  a  part  of  myself.  I  hope  it  may,  by 
divine  grace,  lead  me  to  realise  heaven  as  my  home,  and 
that  she  has  but  preceded  me  in  the  journey.  Oh  my 
Mary,  my  Mary  !  how  often  we  have  longed  for  a  quiet 
home,  since  you  and  I  were  cast  adrift  at  Kolobeng ; 
surely  the  removal  by  a  kind  Father  who  knoweth  our 
frame  means  that  He  rewarded  you  by  taking  you  to  the 
best  home,  the  eternal  one  in  the  heavens.  The  prayer 
was  found  in  her  papers — '  Accept  me.  Lord,  as  I  am,  and 
make  me  such  as  Thou  wouldst  have  me  to  be.'  He  who 
taught  her  to  value  this  prayer  would  not  leave  His  own 
work  unfinished.  On  a  letter  she  had  written,  '  Let 
others  plead  for  pensions,  I  wrote  to  a  friend  I  can  be 
rich  without  money  ;  I  would  give  my  services  in  the 
world  from  uninterested  motives  ;  I  have  motives  for  my 
o^\^l  conduct  I  would  not  exchange  for  a  hundred  pensions.' 

"  She  rests  by  the  large  baobab-tree  at  Shupanga, 
which  is  sixty  feet  in  circumference,  and  is  mentioned  in  the 
work  of  Commodore  Owen.  The  men  asked  to  be  allowed 
to  mount  guard  till  we  had  got  the  grave  built  up,  and 
we  had  it  built  with  bricks  dug  from  an  old  house. 

"  From  her  boxes  we  find  evidence  that  she  intended 
to  make  us  all  comfortable  at  Nyassa,  though  she  seemed 
to  have  a  presentiment  of  an  early  death, — she  purposed 
to  do  more  for  me  than  ever. 

''  nth  May,  Kongone. — My  dear,  dear  Mary  has  been 
this  evening  a  fortnight  in  heaven — absent  from  the 
body,  present  with  the  Lord.  To-day  shalt  thou  be 
with  Me  in  Paradise.  Angels  carried  her  to  Abraham's 
bosom — to  be  with  Christ  is  far  better.  Enoch,  the 
seventh  from  Adam,  prophesied,  'Behold,  the  Lordcometh 


300^  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xiv. 

with  ten  thousand  of  His  saints ; '  ye  also  shall  appear 
with  Him  in  glory.  He  comes  with  them  ;  then  they 
are  now  with  Him.  I  go  to  prepare  a  place  for  you  ; 
that  where  I  am  there  ye  may  be  also,  to  behold  His 
glory.  Moses  and  Elias  talked  of  the  decease  He  should 
accomj^Hsh  at  Jerusalem  ;  then  they  know  what  is  going 
on  here  on  certain  occasions.  They  had  bodily  organs 
to  hear  and  speak.  For  the  first  tune  in  my  life  I  feel 
T\dllmg  to  die. — D.  L." 

''May  19,  1862. — Yi\ddly  do  I  remember  my  first 
passage  down  m  1856,  passing  Shupanga  house  without 
landing,  and  looking  at  its  red  hills  and  white  vales  with 
the  imjoression  that  it  was  a  beautiful  spot.  No  sus- 
j)icion  glanced  across  my  mind  that  there  my  loving  wife 
would  be  called  to  give  up  the  ghost  six  years  afterwards. 
In  some  other  spot  I  may  have  looked  at,  my  own  resting- 
place  may  be  allotted.  I  have  often  wished  that  it 
might  be  in  some  far-off  still  deep  forest,  where  I  may 
sleep  sweetly  till  the  resurrection  morn,  when  the  trump 
of  God  will  make  all  start  up  into  the  glorious  and  active 
second  existence. 

"  2bth  May. — Some  of  the  histories  of  pious  people  in 
the  last  century  and  previously,  tell  of  clouds  of  religious 
gloom,  or  of  paroxysms  of  opposition  and  fierce  rebellion 
against  God,  which  found  vent  in  terrible  expressix)ns. 
These  were  followed  by  great  elevations  of  faith,  and 
reactions  of  confiding  love,  the  results  of  divine  influence 
which  carried  the  soul  far  above  the  region  of  the  intellect 
into  that  of  direct  spiritual  intuition.  This  seems  to 
have  been  the  experience  of  my  dear  Mary.  She  had  a 
strong  presentiment  of  death  being  near.  She  said  that 
she  would  never  have  a  house  in  this  country.  Taking 
it  to  be  despondency  alone,  I  only  joked,  and  now  my 
heart  smites  me  that  I  did  not  talk  seriously  on  that  and 
many  things  besides. 

'*'  31s^  May  18 62. — The  loss  of  my  ever  dear  Mary  lies 


1 86 1 -6 2.]         •        UNIVERSITIES  MISSION.  301 

like  a  heavy  weight  on  my  heart.  In  our  intercourse  in 
private  tliere  was  more  than  what  would  be  thought  by 
some  a  decorous  amount  of  merriment  and  play.  I  said 
to  her  a  few  days  before  her  fatal  illness  :  '  We  old  bodies 
ought  now  to  be  more  sober,  and  not  play  so  much.'  '  Oh 
no,'  said  she,  '  you  must  always  be  as  playful  as  you  have 
always  been,  I  would  not  Hke  you  to  be  as  grave  as  some 
folks  I  have  seen.'  This,  when  I  know  her  prayer  was 
that  she  might  be  spared  to  be  a  help  and  comfort  to  me 
in  my  great  work,  led  me  to  feel  what  I  have  always 
behoved  to  be  the  true  way,  to  let  the  head  grow  wise, 
but  keep  the  heart  always  young  and  playful.  She  was 
ready  and  anxious  to  work,  but  has  been  cahed  away  to 
serve  God  in  a  higher  sphere." 

Livingstone  could  not  be  idle,  even  when  his  heart 
was  broken ;  he  occupied  the  days  after  the  death  in 
writing  to  her  father  and  mother,  to  his  children,  and  to 
many  of  the  friends  who  would  be  interested  in  the  sad 
news.  Among  these  letters,  that  to  Mrs.  Moffat  and  her 
reply  from  Kuruman  have  a  special  interest.  His  letters 
went  round  by  Europe,  and  the  first  news  reached  Kuru- 
man by  traders  and  newspapers.  For  a  full  month  after 
her  daughter's  death,  Mrs.  Moffat  was  giving  thanks  for 
the  mercy  that  had  spared  her  to  meet  with  her  husband, 
and  had  made  her  lot  so  different  from  that  of  Miss  Mac- 
kenzie and  Mrs.  Burrup.  In  a  letter,  dated  2Gth  May, 
she  writes  to  Mary  a  graphic  account  of  the  electrical 
thrill  that  passed  through  her  when  she  saw  David's 
handwriting — of  the  beating  heart  with  which  she  tried 
to  get  the  essence  of  his  letter  before  she  read  the  lines — 
of  the  overwhelming  joy  and  gratitude  with  which  she 
learned  that  they  had  met — and  then  the  horror  of  great 
darkness  that  came  over  her  when  she  read  of  the  tragic 
death  of  the  Bishop,  to  whom  she  had  learned  to  feel  as 
to  a  friend  and  brother.  Then  she  pours  out  her  tears 
over  the  "  poor  dear  ladies,  Miss  Mackenzie  and  Mrs. 


302  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.         •      [chap.  xiv. 

BuiTup,"  and  remembers  the  similar  fate  of  the  Helmores, 
who,  hke  the  Bishop  and  his  friends,  had  had  it  in  their 
hearts  to  build  a  temple  to  the  Lord  in  Africa,  but  had 
not  been  permitted.  Then  comes  some  family  news, 
especially  about  her  son  Robert,  whose  sudden  death 
occurred  a  few  days  after,  and  was  another  bitter  drop 
in  the  ftimily  cup.  And  then  some  motherly  forecastings 
of  her  daughter's  future,  kindly  counsel  where  she  could 
offer  any,  and  affectionate  prayers  for  the  guidance  ot 
God  where  the  future  was  too  dark  for  her  to  penetrate. 

For  a  whole  month  before  this  letter  was  written, 
poor  Mary  had  been  sleeping  under  the  baobab-tree  at 
Shupanga ! 

In  Livingstone's  letter  to  Mrs.  Moffat  he  gives  the 
details  of  her  illness,  and  pours  his  heart  out  in  the  same 
affectionate  terms  as  in  his  Journal.  He  dwells  on  the 
many  unhappy  causes  of  delay  which  had  detained  them 
near  the  mouth  of  the  river,  contrary  to  all  his  wishes 
and  arrangements.  He  is  concerned  that  her  deafness 
(through  quinine)  and  comatose  condition  before  her 
death  prevented  her  from  giving  him  the  indications  he 
would  have  desired  respecting  her  state  of  mind  in  the 
view  of  eternity. 

"  I  look,"  he  says,  "  to  her  previous  experience  and 
life  for  comfort,  and  thank  God  for  His  mercy  that  we 
have  it.  ...  A  good  wife  and  mother  was  she.  God 
have  pity  on  the  children — she  was  so  much  beloved  by 
them.  ,  .  .  She  was  much  respected  by  all  the  officers  of 
the  '  Gorgon,' — they  would  do  anything  for  her.  When 
they  met  this  vessel  at  Mozambique,  Captain  Wilson 
offered  his  cabin  in  that  fine  large  vessel,  but  she  in- 
sisted rather  that  Miss  Mackenzie  and  Mrs.  Burrup  should 
go.  ...  I  enjoyed  her  society  during  the  three  months 
we  were  together.  It  was  the  Lord  who  gave,  and  He  has 
taken  away.  I  wish  to  say — Blessed  be  His  name.  I 
regret,  as  there  always  are  regrets  after  our  loved  ones 


iS6i-62.]  UNIVERSITIES  MISSION.  303 

are  gone,  that  the  slander  which,  unfortunately,  reached 
her  ears  from  missionary  gossips  and  others  had  an  in- 
fluence on  me  in  allowing  her  to  come,  before  we  were 
fairly  on  Lake  Nyassa.  A  doctor  of  divinity  said,  when 
her  devotion  to  her  family  was  praised  :  '  Oh,  she  is  no 
good,  she  is  here  because  her  husband  cannot  live  with 
her,'     The  last  day  will  tell  another  tale." 

To  his  daughter  Agnes  he  writes,  after  the  account  of 
her  death  :  "...  Dear  Nannie,  she  often  thought  of  you, 
and  when  once,  from  the  violence  of  the  disease,  she  was 
delirious,  she  called  out,  '  See !  Agnes  is  falling  down  a 
precipice.'  May  our  Heavenly  Saviour,  who  must  be 
your  Father  and  Guide,  preserve  you  from  falling  into 
the  gulf  of  sin  over  the  precipice  of  temptation.  .  .  . 
Dear  Agnes,  I  feel  alone  in  the  world  now,  and  what  will 
the  poor  dear  baby  do  without  her  mamma  ?  She  often 
spoke  of  her,  and  sometimes  burst  into  a  flood  of  tears, 
just  as  I  now  do  in  taking  up  and  arranging  the  things 
left  by  my  beloved  partner  of  eighteen  years.  ...  I  bow 
to  the  Divine  hand  that  chastens  me.  God  grant  that 
I  may  learn  the  lesson  He  means  to  teach !  All  she 
told  you  to  do  she  now  enforces,  as  if  beckoning  from 
heaven.  Nannie,  dear,  meet  her  there.  Don't  lose  the 
crown  of  joy  she  now  wears,  and  the  Lord  be  gracious  to 
you  in  all  things.  You  will  now  need  to  act  more  and 
more  from  a  feeling  of  responsibility  to  Jesus,  seeing  He 
has  taken  away  one  of  your  guardians.  A  right  straight- 
forward woman  was  she.  No  crooked  way  ever  hers,  and 
she  could  act  with  decision  and  energy  when  required. 
I  pity  you  on  receiving  this,  but  it  is  the  Lord. — Your 
sorrowing  and  lonely  father." 

Letters  of  the  like  tenor  were  "UTitten  to  every  in- 
timate friend.  It  was  a  relief  to  his  heart  to  jDour  itself 
out  in  praise  of  her  who  was  gone,  and  in  some  cases, 
when  he  had  told  all  about  the  death,  he  returns  to 
speak  of  her  life.      A  letter  to  Sir   Roderick  Murchison 


304  DA  VID  LIVINGSTONE,  LChap.  xiv. 

gives  all  the  particulars  of  the  illness  and  its  termination. 
Then  he  thinks  of  the  good  and  gentle  Lady  Murchison — 
"  la  spirituelle  Lady  Murchison/'  as  Humboldt  called  her, 
— and  ^\^'ites  to  her  :  "  It  will  somewhat  ease  my  aching 
heart  to  tell  you  about  my  dear  departed  Mary  Moffat, 
the  faithful  companion  of  eighteen  years."  He  tells  of 
her  birth  at  Griqua  Town  in  1821,  her  education  in 
England,  their  marriao;e  and  their  love.  "  At  Kolobeno- 
she  managed  all  the  household  affairs  by  native  servants 
of  her  o^\'n  training,  made  bread,  butter,  and  all  the 
clothes  of  the  family  ;  taught  her  children  most  carefully ; 
kept  also  an  infant  and  sewing  school — by  far  the  most 
poj^ular  and  best  attended  we  had.  It  was  a  fine  sight 
to  see  her  day  by  day  walking  a  quarter  of  a  mile  to  the 
town,  no  matter  how  broiling  hot  the  sun,  to  impart 
instruction  to  the  heathen  Bakwains.  Ma-Rol^ert's  name 
is  known  tlirough  all  that  country,  and  1800  miles  beyond. 
...  A  brave,  good  woman  was  she.  All  my  hopes  of 
giving  her  one  day  a  quiet  home,  for  wliich  we  both  had 
many  a  sore  longing,  are  now  dashed  to  the  ground. 
She  is,  I  trust,  through  divine  mercy,  in  peace  in  the 
home  of  the  blest.  .  .  .  She  spoke  feelingly  of  your  kind- 
ness to  her,  and  also  of  the  kind  reception  she  received 
from  Miss  Burdett  Coutts.  Please  give  that  lady  and 
Mrs.  Brown  the  sad  mtelligence  of  her  death." 

The  reply  of  Mrs.  Moffat  to  her  son-in-law's  letter 
was  touching  and  beautiful.  "  I  do  thank  you  for  the 
detail  you  have  given  us  of  the  circumstances  of  the  last 
days  and  hours  of  our  lamented  and  beloved  Mary,  our 
first-born,  over  whom  our  fond  hearts  first  beat  with 
parental  affection  !"  She  recounts  the  mercies  that  were 
,r^  mingled  with  the  trial — though  Mary  could  not  be  called 
eminently  pious,  she  had  the  root  of  the  matter  in  her, 
and  though  the  voyage  of  her  life  had  been  a  trying  and 
stormy  one,  she  had  not  become  a  wreck.  God  had 
remembered  her ;  had  given  her  diu'ing  her  last  year  the 


i86i-62.]  UNIVERSITIES  AllSSIOy.  305 

counsels  of  faithful  men — referring  to  her  kind  friend  and 
valued  counsellor,  the  Rev.  Professor  Kirk  of  Edinhuro-h, 
and  the  Rev.  Dr.  Stewart  of  Lovedale — and,  at  last,  the 
great  privilege  of  d}ing  in  the  arms  of  her  husband. 
"As  for  the  cruel  scandal  that  seems  to  have  hurt 
you  both  so  much,  those  who  said  it  did  not  know 
you  as  a  couple.  In  all  our  intercourse  with  you,  we 
never  had  a  doubt  as  to  your  being  comfortable  to- 
gether. I  know  there  are  some  maudlin  ladies  who 
insinuate,  when  a  man  leaves  his  family  frequently,  no 
matter  how  noble  is  his  object,  that  he  is  not  comfortable 
at  home.  But  we  can  afford  to  smile  at  tliis,  and  say, 
'  The  Day  will  declare  it.'  .  .  . 

"  Now,  my  dear  Livingstone,  I  must  conclude  by 
assuring  you  of  the  tender  interest  we  shall  ever  feel  in 
your  operations.  It  is  not  only  as  the  husband  of  our 
departed  Mary  and  the  father  of  her  children,  but  as  one 
who  has  laid  himself  out  for  the  emancipation  of  this 
poor  wretched  continent,  and  for  opening  new  doors  of 
entrance  for  the  heralds  of  salvation  (not  that  I  would 
not  have  preferred  your  remaining  in  your  former  capacity). 
I  nevertheless  rejoice  in  what  you  are  allowed  to  accom- 
phsh.  We  look  anxiously  for  more  news  of  you,  and  my 
heart  bounded  when  I  saw  your  letters  the  other  day, 
thinking  they  were  new.  May  our  gracious  God  and 
Father  comfort  your  sorrowful  heart. — Believe  me  ever 
your  affectionate  mother,  Mary  Moffat." 


U 


3o6  DA  VID  LIVINGSTONE,  [chap.  xv. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

LAST  TWO  YEARS  OF  THE  EXPEDITION. 
A.D.  18G2-1863. 

Livingstone  again  buckles  on  his  armour — Letter  to  Waller — Launch  of  "Lady 
Nyassa  " — Too  late  for  season — He  explores  the  Rovuma — Fresh  acti\'ity  of 
the  slave-trade — Letter  to  Governor  of  Mozambique  about  his  discoveries — 
Letter  to  Sir  Thomas  Maclear — Generous  offer  of  a  party  of  Scotchmen — The 
Expedition  proceeds  up  Zambesi  with  ' '  Lady  Nyassa "  in  tow — Appalling 
desolations  of  Marianno — Tidings  of  the  Mission— Death  of  Scudamore — of 
Dickenson — of  Thornton — lUness  of  Livingstone — Dr.  Kirk  and  Charles 
Livingstone  go  home — He  proceeds  northwards  with  Mr.  Ilae  and  Mr.  E.  D. 
Young  of  the  "Gorgon " — Attempt  to  carry  a  boat  over  the  rapids — Defeated 
— Recall  of  the  Expedition — Livingstone's  views — Letter  to  Mr.  James  Young 
— to  Mr.  Waller — Fe'eling  of  the  Portuguese  Government— Offer  to  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Stewart — Great  discouragements — Wliy  did  he  not  go  home?--- 
Proceeds  to  explore  Nyassa — Risks  and  sufferings — Occupation  of  his  mind — 
Natural  History — Obliged  to  turn  back — More  desolation — Rej^ort  of  his 
murder — Kindness  of  Chinsamba — Reaches  the  ship — Letter  from  Bishop 
Tozer,  abandoning  the  Mission — Distress  of  Livingstone — Letter  to  Sir  Thomas 
Maclear — Progress  of  Dr.  Stewart — Livingstonia — Livingstone  takes  charge 
of  the  children  of  the  Universities  Mission — Letter  to  his  daughter — Retro- 
spect— The  work  of  the  Expedition — Livingstone's  plans  for  the  future. 

It  could  not  have  been  easy  for  Livingstone  to  buckle  on 
his  armour  anew.  How  he  was  able  to  do  it  at  all  may 
be  inferred  from  some  words  of  cheer  written  by  him  at 
the  tune  to  his  friend  Mr.  Waller : — "  Thanks  for  your 
kind  sympathy.  In  return,  I  say,  Cherish  exalted  thoughts 
of  the  great  work  you  have  undertaken.  It  is  a  work 
which,  if  faithful,  you  will  look  back  on  with  satisfaction 
while  the  eternal  ages  roll  on  their  everlasting  course. 
The  devil  will  do  all  he  can  to  hinder  you  by  eftbrts  from 
without  and  from  within ;  but  remember  Him  who  is 
with  you,  and  will  be  with  you  alway." 


1862-63.]   LAST  TWO  YEARS  OF  THE  EXPEDITION.    307 

As  soon  as  he  was  able  to  brace  himself,  he  was  aorain 
at  his  post,  helping  to  put  the  "  Ladj  Nyassa  "  together 
and  launch  her.  This  was  achieved  by  the  end  of  June, 
greatly  to  the  wonder  of  the  natives,  who  could  not 
understand  how  iron  should  swim.  The  "  Nyassa  "  was  an 
excellent  steamboat,  and  could  she  have  been  got  to  the 
lake  would  have  done  well.  But,  alas  !  the  rainy  season 
had  passed,  and  until  December  this  could  not  be  done. 
Here  was  another  great  disappointment.  Meanwhile, 
Dr.  Livingstone  resolved  to  renew  the  exploration  of  the 
Rovuma,  in  the  hope  of  finding  a  way  to  Nyassa  beyond 
the  dominion  of  the  Portuguese.  This  was  the  work  in 
which  he  had  been  enc^aofed  at  the  time  when  he  went 
with  Bishop  Mackenzie  to  help  him  to  settle. 

The  voyage  up  the  Bovuma  did  not  lead  to  much. 
On  one  occasion  they  were  attacked,  fiercely  and  treacher- 
ously, by  the  n-atives.  Cataracts  occurred  about  156 
miles  from  the  mouth,  and  the  report  was  that  farther  up 
they  were  worse.  The  explorers  did  not  venture  beyond 
the  banks  of  the  river,  but  so  far  as  they  saw,  the  people 
were  industrious,  and  the  country  fertile,  and  a  steamer 
of  light  draught  might  carry  on  a  very  profitable  trade 
among  them.  But  there  was  no  water-way  to  Nyassa. 
The  Bovuma  came  from  mountains  to  the  west,  having 
only  a  very  minute  connection  with  Nyassa.  It  seemed 
that  it  would  be  better  in  the  meantime  to  reach  the 
lake  by  the  Zambesi  and  the  Shire,  so  the  party  returned. 
It  was  not  till  the  beginning  of  1863  that  they  were 
able  to  renew  the  ascent  of  these  rivers.  Livingstone 
writes  touchingly  to  Sir  Boderick,  in  reference  to  his 
returning  to  the  Zambesi,  "  It  may  seem  to  some  persons 
weak  to  feel  a  chord  vibrating;  to  the  dust  of  her  who 
rests  on  the  banks  of  the  Zambesi,  and  think  that  the 
path  by  that  river  is  consecrated  by  her  remains." 

Meanwhile  Dr.  Livingstone  was  busy  with  his  pen. 
A  new  energy  had  been  imparted  to  him  by  the  appalling 


3o8  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xv. 

facts,  now  fully  apparent,  tliat  his  discoveries  had  only 
stimulated  the  activity  of  the  slave-traders,  that  the  Portu- 
guese local  authorities  really  promoted  slave-trading,  with 
its  inevitable  concomitant  slave-hunting,  and  that  the 
horror  and  desolation  to  which  the  country  bore  such 
frightful  testimony  was  the  result.  It  seemed  as  if  the  duel 
he  had  fought  with  the  Boers  when  they  determined  to 
close  Africa,  and  he  determined  to  open  it,  had  now  to 
be  repeated  with  the  Portuguese.  The  attention  of  Dr. 
Livinefstone  is  more  and  more  concentrated  on  tliis 
terrible  topic.  Dr.  Kirk  writes  to  him  that  when  at 
Tette  he  had  heard  that  the  Portuguese  Governor-General 
at  Mozambique  had  instructed  his  brother,  the  Governor 
of  that  town,  to  act  on  the  principle  that  the  slave-trade, 
though  prohibited  on  the  ocean,  was  still  lawful  on  the 
land,  and  that  any  persons  interfering  mth  slave-traders, 
by  liberating  then'  slaves,  would  be  counted  robbers. 
An  energetic  despatch  to  Earl  Paissell,  then  Foreign 
Secretary,  calls  attention  to  this  outrage. 

A  few  days  after,  a  strong  but  polite  letter  is  sent  to 
the  Governor  of  Tette,  calling  attention  to  the  forays  of  a 
man  named  Belshore,  in  the  Chibisa  country,  and  entreat- 
ing hun  to  stop  them.  About  the  same  time  he  writes  to 
the  Governor- General  of  Mozambique  in  reply  to  a  paper 
by  the  Viscount  de  Sa  da  Bandeira,  published  in  the 
Almanac  by  the  Government  press,  in  which  the  common 
charge  was  made  against  him  of  arrogating  to  himself  the 
glory  of  discoveries  which  belonged  to  Senhor  Candido 
and  other  Portuguese.  He  affirms  that  before  publishing 
his  book  he  examined  all  Portuguese  books  of  travels  he 
could  find ;  that  he  had  actually  shown  Senhor  Candido 
to  have  been  a  discoverer  before  any  Portuguese  hinted 
that  he  was  such  ;  that  the  lake  which  Candido  spoke  of  as 
north-west  of  Tette  could  not  be  Nyassa,  which  was  north- 
east of  it ;  that  he  did  full  justice  to  all  the  Portuguese 
explorers,  and  that  what  he  claimed  as  his  own  discoveries 


1862-63.]   LAST  TWO  YEARS  OF  THE  EXPEDITION.    309 

were  certainly  not  tlie  discoveries  of  the  Portuguese.  A 
few  days  after  he  writes  to  Mr.  Layard,  then  our  Portu- 
guese Minister,  and  comments  on  the  map  pubhshed  by 
the  Viscount  as  representing  Portuguese  geography, — ■ 
pointing  out  such  bkmders  as  that  which  made  the 
Zambesi  enter  the  sea  at  Quihmane,  proving  that  by 
their  map  the  Portuguese  claimed  territory  that  was 
certainly  not  theirs  ;  adverting  to  their  utter  ignorance 
of  the  Victoria  Falls,  the  most  remarkable  phenomenon 
in  Africa ;  affirming  that  many  so-called  discoveries  were 
mere  vague  rumours,  heard  by  travellers ;  and  showing 
the  use  that  had  been  made  of  his  own  maps,  the  names 
being  changed  to  suit  the  Portuguese  orthography. 

Livingstone  had  the  satisfaction  of  knowing  that  liis 
account  of  the  trip  to  Lake  Nyassa  had  excited  much 
interest  in  the  Cabinet  at  home,  and  that  a  strong 
remonstrance  had  been  addressed  to  the  Portuguese 
Government  against  slave-hunting.  But  it  does  not 
appear  that  this  led  to  any  improvement  at  the  time. 

While  stung  into  more  than  ordinary  energy  by  the 
atrocious  deeds  he  witnessed  around  him,  Livingstone  was 
hving  near  the  borders  of  the  unseen  world.  He  writes 
to  Su^  Thomas  Maclear  on  the  27th  October  1862  :— 

"  I  suppose  that  I  shall  die  in  these  uplands,  and  somebody  will 
carry  out  the  plan  I  have  longed  to  put  into  practice.  I  have  been 
thinking  a  great  deal  since  the  departure  of  my  beloved  one  about  the 
regions  Avhither  she  has  gone,  and  imagine  from  the  manner  the  Bible 
describes  it  we  have  got  too  much  monkery  in  our  ideas.  There  will 
be  work  there  as  well  as  here,  and  possibly  not  such  a  vast  difference 
in  our  being  as  is  expected.  But  a  short  time  there  will  give  more 
insight  than  a  thousand  musings.  We  shall  see  Him  by  whose  inex- 
pressible love  and  mercy  we  get  there,  and  all  whom  we  loved,  and  all 
the  loveable.  I  can  sympathise  with  you  now  more  fully  than  I  did 
before.  I  work  with  as  much  vigour  as  I  can,  and  mean  to  do  so  till 
the  change  comes ;  but  the  prospect  of  a  home  is  all  dispelled." 

In  one  of  his  despatches  to  Lord  Eussell,  Livingstone 
reports  an  oifer  that  had  been  made  by  a  party  consisting 
of  an  Enghshman  and  five  Scotch  working  men  at  the 


310  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE. ^  [chap.  xv. 

Cape,  which  must  have  been  extremely  gratifying  to  him, 
and  served  to  deepen  his  conviction  that  sooner  or  later 
his  plan  of  colonisation  would  certainly  be  carried  into 
effect.  The  leader  of  the  party,  John  Jehan,  formerly  of 
the  London  City  Mission,  in  reading  Dr.  Livingstone's 
book,  became  convinced  that  if  a  few  mechanics  could  be 
induced  to  take  a  journey  of  exploration  it  would  prove 
very  useful.  His  views  being  communicated  to  five  other 
young  men  (two  masons,  two  carpenters,  one  smith),  they 
formed  themselves  into  a  company  in  July  1861,  and  had 
been  working  together,  throwing  their  earnmgs  into  a 
common  fund,  and  now  they  had  arms,  two  wagons,  two 
spans  of  oxen,  and  means  of  procuring  outfits.  In  Sep- 
tember 1862  they  were  ready  to  start  from  Aliwal  in 
South  Africa.^ 

After  going  to  Johanna  for  provisions,  and  to 
discharge  the  crew  of  Johanna  men  whose  term  of 
service  had  expired,  the  Expedition  returned  to  Tette. 
On  the  10th  January  1863  they  steamed  off*  with  the 
/  "Lady  Nyassa"  in  tow.  The  desolation  that  had  been 
caused  by  Marianno,  the  Portuguese  slave-agent,  was 
heart-breaking.  Corpses  floated  past  them.  In  the 
morning  the  paddles  had  to  be  cleared  of  corpses  caught 
by  the  floats  during  the  night.  Livingstone  summed 
\x^  his  impressions  in  one  terrible  sentence  : — 

"  Wherever  we  took  a  walk,  human  skeletons  were  seen 
in  every  direction,  and  it  was  painfully  interesting  to 
observe  the  different  postures  in  which  the  poor  wretches 
had  breathed  their  last.  A  whole  heap  had  been  thrown 
down  a  slope  behind  a  village,  where  the  fugitives  often 
crossed  the  river  from  the  east ;   and  in  one  hut  of  the 

*  The  recall  of  Livingstone's  Expedition  and  the  removal  of  the  Universities 
Mission  seem  to  have  knocked  this  most  promising  scheme  on  the  head.  Writing 
of  it  to  Sir  Roderick  Murchison  on  the  14th  December  1862,  he  says  :  "I  like  the 
Scotchmen,  and  think  them  much  better  adapted  for  onr  plans  than  those  on  whom 
the  Universities  Mission  has  lighted.  If  employed  as  I  shall  Avish  them  to  be  in 
trade,  and  setting  an  example  of  industry  in  cotton  or  coffee  planting,  I  tbink  they 
are  just  the  men  I  need  brought  to  my  hand.     Don't  you  think  this  sensible  ? " 


1862-63.]   LAST  TWO  YEARS  OF  THE  EXPEDITION.    311 

same  village  no  fewer  than  twenty  drums  had  been 
collected,  probably  the  ferryman's  fees.  Many  had  ended 
their  misery  under  shady  trees,  others  under  projecting 
crags  in  the  hills,  while  others  lay  in  their  huts  with 
closed  doors,  which  when  opened  disclosed  the  mouldering 
corpse  with  the  poor  rags  round  the  loins,  the  skull 
fallen  off  the  pillow,  the  little  skeleton  of  the  child,  that 
had  perished  first,  rolled  up  in  a  mat  between  two  large 
skeletons.  The  sight  of  this  desert,  but  eighteen  months 
ago  a  well -peopled  valley,  now  literally  strewn  with 
human  bones,  forced  the  conviction  upon  us  that  the 
destruction  of  human  life  in  the  middle  passage,  however 
gi'eat,  constitutes  but  a  small  portion  of  the  waste,  and 
made  us  feel  that  unless  the  slave-trade — that  monster 
iniquity  which  has  so  long  brooded  over  Africa — is  put 
down,  lawful  commerce  cannot  be  established." 

In  passing  up,  Livingstone's  heart  was  saddened  as  he 
visited  the  Bishop's  grave,  and  still  more  by  the  tidings 
which  he  got  of  the  Mission,  which  had  now  removed 
from  Magomero  to  the  low  lands  of  Chibisa.  Some  time 
before,  Mr.  Scudamore,  a  man  greatly  beloved,  had  suc- 
cumbed, and  now  Mr.  Dickenson  was  added  to  the 
number  of  victims.  Mr.  Thornton,  too,  who  left  the  Expe- 
dition in  1859,  but  returned  to  it,  died  under  an  attack 
of  fever,  consequent  on  too  violent  exertion  undertaken 
in  order  to  be  of  ser\'ice  to  the  Mission  party.  Dr.  Kirk 
and  Mr.  C.  Livingstone  were  so  much  reduced  by  illness 
that  it  was  deemed  necessary  for  them  to  return  to 
England.  Livingstone  himself  had  a  most  serious  attack 
of  fever,  which  lasted  all  the  month  of  May,  Dr.  Kirk 
remaining  with  him  till  he  got  over  it.  When  his 
brother  and  Dr.  Kirk  left,  the  only  Europeans  remaining 
with  him  were  Mr.  Eae,  the  ship's  engineer,  and  Mr. 
Edward  D.  Young,  formerly  of  the  "  Gorgon,"  who  had 
volunteered  to  join  the  Expedition,  and  whose  after 
services,  both  in  the  search  for  Livingstone  and  in  estab- 


312  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  [chap.  xv. 

lisliiuii'  the  mission  of  Livinofstonia,  were  so  valuable.  On 
the  noble  spirit  shown  by  Livingstone  in  remaining  in  the 
comitry  after  all  his  early  companions  had  left,  and  amid 
such  appalUng  scenes  as  everywhere  met  him,  we  do  not 
need  to  dwell. 

Here  are  glimpses  of  the  inner  heart  of  Livingstone 
about  this  time  : — 

"  \st  March  1863. — I  feel  very  often  that  I  have  not  long  to  live, 
and  say,  '  My  dear  children,  I  leave  you.  Be  manly  Christians,  and 
never  do  a  mean  thing.  Be  honest  to  men,  and  to  the  Almighty 
One.' " 

"  1 0//i  April. — Eeached  the  Cataracts.  Very  thankful  indeed  after 
our  three  months'  toil  from  Shupanga." 

"  '11th  April. — On  this  day  twelvemonths  my  beloved  Mary  Moffat 
was  removed  from  me  by  death. 

'  If  I  con,  I'll  come  again,  mother,  from  out  my  resting-place  ; 
Though  you'll  not  see  me,  mother,  I  shall  look  upon  your  face  ; 
Though  I  cannot  speak  a  word,  I  shall  hearken  what  you  say. 
And  be  often,  often  with  you  when  you  think  I'm  far  away.' 

Texntson." 

The  "  Lady  Nyassa  "  being  taken  to  pieces,  the  party 
began  to  construct  a  road  over  the  thirty-five  or  forty 
miles  of  the  rapids,  in  order  to  convey  the  steamer  to  the 
lake.  After  a  few  miles  of  the  road  had  been  completed, 
it  was  thought  desirable  to  ascertain  whether  the  boat 
left  near  the  lake  two  years  before  was  fit  for  service,  so 
as  to  avoid  the  necessity  of  carrying  another  boat  past  the 
rapids.  On  reaching  it  the  boat  was  found  to  have  been 
Ijurnt.  The  party  therefore  returned  to  carry  up  another. 
They  had  got  to  the  very  last  rapid,  and  had  placed  the 
boat  for  a  short  space  in  the  water,  when,  through  the 
carelessness  of  five  Zambesi  men,  she  was  overturned,  and 
away  she  went  like  an  arrow  down  the  rapids.  To  keep 
calm  under  such  a  crowning  disappointment  must  have 
taxed  Livingstone's  self-control  to  the  very  utmost. 

It  was  now  that  he  received  a  despatch  from  Earl 
Russell  intimating  that  the  Expedition  was  recalled. 
This,  though  a  great  disappointment,  was  not  altogether  a 


1862-63.]    LAST  TWO  YEARS  OF  THE  EXPEDITION.    313 

surprise.  On  the  24th  April  he  had  written  to  Mr. 
Waller,  "  I  should  not  wonder  in  the  least  to  be  recalled, 
for  should  the  Portuguese  persist  in  keeping  the  rivers 
shut,  there  would  be  no  use  in  trying  to  develop  trade." 
He  states  his  views  on  the  recall  calmly  in  a  letter  to 
Mr.  James  Youno- : — 

o 

"  MtircJiison  Cataracts,  Sd  July  1863. —  .  .  .  Got  instructions  for 
our  recall  yesterday,  at  which  I  do  not  wonder.  The  Government  has 
behaved  Avell  to  us  throughout,  and  I  feel  abundantly  thankful  to 
H.M.'s  ministers  for  enabling  me  so  far  to  carry  on  the  experiment 
of  turning  the  industrial  and  trading  propensities  of  the  natives  to 
good  account,  with  a  view  of  thereby  eradicating  the  trade  in  slaves. 
But  the  Portuguese  dogged  our  footsteps,  and,  as  is  generally  under- 
stood, with  the  approbation  of  their  Home  Government,  neutralised 
our  labours.  Not  that  the  Portuguese  statesmen  approved  of  slaving, 
but  being  enormously  jealous  lest  their  pretended  dominion  from  sea 
to  sea  and  elsewhere  should  in  the  least  degree,  now  or  at  any  future 
time,  become  aught  else  than  a  slave  '  preserve,'  the  Governors  have  been 
instructed,  and  have  carried  out  their  instructions  further  than  their 
employers  intended.  Major  Sicard  was  removed  from  Tette  as  too 
friendly,  and  his  successor  had  emissaries  in  the  Ajawa  camp.  "Well, 
we  saw  their  policy,  and  regretted  that  they  should  be  allowed  to  follow 
us  into  perfectly  new  regions.  The  regret  was  the  more  poignant, 
inasmuch  as  but  for  our  entering  in  by  gentleness,  they  durst  not  have 
gone.  No  Portuguese  dared,  for  instance,  to  come  up  this  Shire 
valley ;  but  after  our  dispelling  the  fear  of  the  natives  by  fair  treat- 
ment, they  came  in  calling  themselves  our  '  children.'  The  whole 
thing  culminated  when  this  quarter  w\is  inundated  with  Tette  slavers, 
whose  operations,  in  connection  Avith  a  marauding  tribe  of  Ajawas,  and 
a  drought,  completely  depopulated  the  country.  The  sight  of  this 
made  me  conclude  that  unless  something  could  be  done  to  prevent 
these  raids,  and  take  off  their  foolish  obstructions  on  the  rivers,  which 
they  never  use,  our  work  in  this  region  was  at  an  end.  .  .  .  Please 
the  Supreme,  I  shall  Avork  some  other  point  yet.  In  leaving,  it  is 
bitter  to  see  some  900  miles  of  coast  abandoned  to  those  Avho  Avere  the 
first  to  begin  the  slave-trade,  and  seem  determined  to  be  the  last  to 
abandon  it." 

Writing  to  Mr.  Waller  at  this  time  he  said  :  "  I 
don't  know  whether  I  am  to  go  on  the  shelf  or  not.  If  I 
do,  I  make  Africa  the  shelf  If  the  '  Lady  Nyassa '  is  well 
sold,  I  shall  manage.  There  is  a  Ruler  above,  and  His 
providence  guides  all  things.     He  is  our  Friend,  and  has 


314  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xv. 

plenty  of  work  for  all  His  people  to  do.  Don't  fear  of 
being  left  idle,  if  willing  to  work  for  Him.  I  am  glad  to 
hear  of  Alington.  If  the  work  is  of  God  it  will  come  out 
all  right  at  last.  To  Him  shall  be  given  of  the  gold  of 
Sheba,  and  daily  shall  He  be  praised.  I  always  think  it 
was  such  a  blessing  and  privilege  to  be  led  into  His  work 
instead  of  into  the  service  of  the  hard  taskmasters — the 
Devil  and  Sin." 

The  reasons  assigned  by  Earl  Kussell  for  the  recall  of 
the  Expedition  were,  that,  not  through  any  fault  of  Dr. 
/Livingstone's,  it  had  not  accomplished  the  objects  for 
which  it  had  been  designed,  and  that  it  had  proved 
much  more  costly  than  was  originally  expected.  Pro- 
bably the  Government  felt  likewise  that  their  remon- 
strances with  the  Portuguese  Government  were  unavailing, 
and  that  their  relations  were  becomino-  too  uncomfortable. 
Even  among  those  most  friendly  to  Dr.  Livingstone's 
great  aim,  and  most  opposed  to  the  slave-trade,  and  to 
the  Portuguese  policy  in  Africa,  there  were  some  wdio 
doubted  whether  his  proposed  methods  of  procedure 
were  quite  consistent  with  the  rights  of  the  Portuguese 
Government.  His  Eoyal  Highness  the  Prince- Consort 
indicated  some  feeling  of  this  kind  in  his  interview  wdth 
Livingstone  in  1857.  He  expressed  the  feeling  more 
strongly  when  he  declined  the  request,  made  to  him 
throuofh  Professor  Sedgwick  of  Cambridg-e,  that  he  woidd 
allow  himself  to  be  Patron  of  the  Universities  Mission. 
Dr.  Livingstone  knew  well  that  from  that  exalted 
quarter  his  plans  would  receive  no  active  support.  That 
he  should  have  obtained  the  support  he  did  from  succes- 
sive Governments  and  successive  Foreign  Secretaries, 
Liberal  and  Conservative,  was  a  great  gratification,  if  not 
something  of  a  surprise.  Hence  the  cahimess  wdth  which 
he  received  the  intelligence  of  the  recall.  Towards  the 
Portuguese  Government  his  feelings  were  not  very 
sweet.     On  them  lay  the  guilt  of  arresting  a  work  that 


1862-63.]    LAST  TWO  YEARS  OF  THE  EXPEDITION.    315 

would  have  conferred  untold  blessing  on  Africa.  He 
determined  to  make  this  known  very  clearly  when 
he  should  return  to  England.  At  a  future  period  of 
his  life  he  purposed,  if  spared,  to  go  more  fully  into 
the  reasons  of  his  recall.  Meanwhile  his  course  was 
simply  to  acquiesce  in  the  resolution  of  the  British 
Government. 

It  was  unfortunate  that  the  recall  took  place  before  he 
had  been  able  to  carry  into  effect  his  favourite  scheme  of 
placing  a  steamer  on  Lake  Nyassa ;  nor  could  he  do  this 
now,  although  the  vessel  on  which  he  had  spent  half  his 
fortune  lay  at  the  Murchison  Cataracts.  He  had  always 
cherished  the  hope  that  the  Government  would  repay 
him  at  least  a  part  of  the  outlay,  which,  instead  of  £3000, 
as  he  had  intended,  had  mounted  up  to  £6000.  He  had 
very  generously  told  Dr.  Stewart  that  if  this  should  be 
done,  and  if  he  should  be  willing  to  return  from  Scotland 
to  labour  on  the  shores  of  Nyassa,  he  would  pay  him  his 
expenses  out,  and  £150  yearly,  so  anxious  was  he  that 
he  should  begin  the  work.  On  the  recall  of  the  Expedi- 
tion, without  any  allowance  for  the  ship,  or  even  mention 
of  it,  all  these  expectations  and  mtentions  came  abruptly 
to  an  end. 

At  no  previous  time  had  Dr.  Livingstone  been  under 
greater  discouragements  than  now.  The  Expedition  had 
been  recalled;  his  heart  had  not  recovered  from  the 
desolation  caused  by  the  death  of  the  Bishoj)  and  his 
brethren,  as  well  as  the  Helmores  in  the  Makololo 
country,  and  still  more  by  the  removal  of  Mrs.  Living- 
stone, and  the  thought  of  his  motherless  children ;  the 
most  heart-rending  scenes  had  been  witnessed  everywhere 
in  regions  that  a  short  time  ago  had  been  so  bright; 
all  his  efforts  to  do  good  had  been  turned  to  evil,  every 
new  path  he  had  opened  having  been  seized  as  it  were  by 
the  devil  and  turned  to  the  most  diabolical  ends;  his 
countrymen  were  nearly  all  away  from  him ;    tlie  most 


3i6  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xv. 

depressing  of  diseases  had  produced  its  natural  effect ;  he 
had  had  worries,  delays,  and  disappointments  about  ships 
and  boats  of  the  most  harassing  kind ;  and  now  the 
"Lady  Nyassa"  could  not  be  floated  in  the  waters  of 
which  he  had  fondly  hoped  to  see  her  the  angel  and  the 
queen.  It  is  hardly  possible  to  exaggerate  the  noble 
quality  of  the  heart  that,  undeterred  by  all  these 
troubles,  resolved  to  take  this  last  chance  of  exploring 
the  banks  of  Nyassa,  although  it  could  only  be  by 
the  weary  process  of  trudge,  trudge,  trudging  ;  although 
hunger,  if  not  starvation,  blocked  the  path,  and  fever 
and  dysentery  flitted  round  it  like  imps  of  darkness ; 
although  tribes,  demoralised  by  the  slave-trade,  might  at 
any  moment  put  an  end  to  him  and  his  enterprise  ; — not 
to  speak  of  the  ordinary  risks  of  travel,  the  difficulty  of 
finding  guides,  the  liability  to  bodily  hurt,  the  scarcity 
of  food,  the  perils  from  wild  beasts  by  night  and  by 
day, — risks  which  no  ordinary  traveller  could  think  of 
lightly,  but  which  in  Livingstone's  journeys  drop  out  of 
sight,  because  they  are  so  overtopped  and  dwarfed  by 
Tisks  that  ordinary  travellers  never  know. 

Why  did  not  Livingstone  go  home  ?  A  single 
sentence  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Waller,  while  the  recall  was 
only  in  contemplation,  explains  : — "  In  my  case,  duty 
would  not  lead  me  home,  and  home  therefore  I  would 
not  go."  Away  then  goes  Livingstone,  accompanied  by 
the  steward  of  the  "Pioneer'  and  a  handful  of  native 
servants  (Mr.  Young  being  left  in  charge  of  the  vessel), 
to  get  to  the  northern  end  of  the  lake,  and  ascertain 
whether  any  large  river  flowed  into  it  from  the  west,  and 
if  possible  to  visit  Lake  Moero,  of  which  he  had  heard, 
lying  a  considerable  way  to  the  west.  For  the  first  time 
in  his  travels  he  carried  some  bottles  of  wine, — a  present 
from  the  missionaries  Waller  and  Alington  ;  for  water 
had  liitherto  been  his  only  drink,  with  a  little  hot  coffee 
in  the  mornings  to  warm  the  stomach  and  ward  off  the 


1862-63.]    LAST  TWO  YEARS  OF  THE  EXPEDITION.    317 

feeling  of  sinking.  At  one  time  the  two  white  men  are 
lost  three  days  in  the  woods,  without  food  or  the  means 
of  purchasing  it ;  but  some  jDoor  natives  out  of  their 
poverty  show  them  kindness.  At  another  they  can 
procure  no  guides,  though  the  country  is  difficult  and 
the  way  intersected  by  deep  gullies  that  can  only  be 
scaled  at  certain  known  parts;  anon  they  are  mistaken 
for  slave-dealers,  and  make  a  narrow  escape  of  a  night 
attack.  Another  time,  the  cries  of  children  remind 
Livingstone  of  his  own  home  and  family,  where  the  veiy 
same  tones  of  sorrow  had  often  been  heard  :  the  thouo-ht 

o 

brought  its  own  pang,  only  he  could  feel  thankful  that  in 
the  case  of  his  children  the  woes  of  the  slave-trade  would 
never  be  added  to  the  ordinary  sorrows  of  childliood. 
Then  he  would  enjoy  the  joyous  laugh  of  some  Manganja 
women,  and  think  of  the  good  influence  of  a  merry  heart, 
and  remember  that  whenever  he  had  observed  a  chief 
with  a  joyous  twinkle  of  the  eye  accompanying  his  laugh, 
he  had  always  set  him  down  as  a  good  fellow,  and  had 
never  been  disappointed  in  him  afterwards.  Then  he 
would  cheer  his  monotony  by  making  some  researches 
into  the  origin  of  civilisation,  coming  to  the  clear  conclu- 
sion that  born  savages  must  die  out,  because  they  could 
devise  no  means  of  living  through  disease.  By  and  by 
he  would  examine  the  Arab  character,  and  find  Maho- 
metanism  as  it  now  is  in  Africa  worse  than  African 
heathenism,  and  remark  on  the  callousness  of  the  Maho- 
metans to  the  welfare  of  one  another,  and  on  the  especial 
glory  of  Christianity,  the  only  religion  that  seeks  to 
propagate  itself,  and  through  the  influence  of  love  share 

its  blessino;s  with  others.     Anon  he  would  dwell  on  the 
...  .         .  .  .  .  \ ' 

primitive  African  faith ;  its  recognition  of  one  Almighty 

Creator,  its  moral  code,  so  hke  our  own,  save  in  the  one 
article  of  polygamy  ;  its  pious  recognition  of  a  future  life, 
though  the  element  of  punishment  is  not  very  conspicu- 
ous ;    its  mild  character  generally,  notwithstandinp-  the 


3i8  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xv. 

bloodthlrstiness  sometimes  ascribed  to  it,  which,  however, 
Livingstone  held  to  be,  at  Dahomey  for  example,  purely 
exceptional. 

'  Another  subject  that  occupied  him  was  the  natural 
history  of  the  country.  He  would  account  for  desert 
tracts  like  Kalahari  by  the  fact  that  the  east  and  south- 
east winds,  laden  with  moisture  from  the  Indian  Ocean, 
get  cooled  over  the  coast  ranges  of  mountains,  and  having 
discharged  theu'  vapour  there  had  no  spare  moisture  to 
deposit  over  the  regions  that  for  want  of  it  became 
deserts.  The  geology  of  Southern  Africa  was  pecidiar ; 
the  geographical  series  descrilDod  in  books  was  not  to  be 
found  here,  for,  as  Su-  Roderick  Murchison  had  showTi, 
the  great  submarine  depressions  and  elevations  that  had 
so  greatly  affected  the  other  continents  during  the 
secondary,  tertiary,  and  more  recent  periods,  had  not 
affected  Africa.  It  had  preserved  its  terrestrial  condi- 
tions during  a  long  period,  unaffected  by  any  changes 
save  those  dependent  on  atmospheric  influences.  There 
was  also  a  pecuharity  in  prehistoric  Africa — it  had  no 
stone  period ;  at  least  no  flint  weapons  had  been  found, 
and  the  familiarity  and  skill  of  the  natives  with  the 
manufacture  of  iron  seemed  to  indicate  that  they  had 
used  iron  weapons  from  the  first. 

The  travellers  had  got  as  far  as  the  river  Loangwa  (of 
Nyassa),  when  a  halt  had  to  be  called.  Some  of  the  natives 
had  been  ill,  and  indeed  one  had  died  in  the  comparatively 
cold  climate  of  the  highlands.  But  nothing  would  have 
hindered  Livingstone  from  working  his  w^ay  round  the 
head  of  the  lake  if  only  time  had  been  on  his  side.  But 
time  was  inexorably  against  him  ;  the  orders  from  Govern- 
ment were  strict.  He  must  get  the  "  Pioneer"  down  to 
the  sea  while  the  river  was  in  flood.  A  month  or  six 
weeks  would  have  enabled  him  to  finish  his  researches, 
but  he  could  not  run  the  risk.  It  would  have  been 
otherwise  had  he  foreseen  that  when  he  got  to  the  ship 


1862-63.]   LAST  TWO  YEARS  OF  THE  EXPEDITION.    319 

he  would  be  detained  two  months  waiting  for  the  risino- 
of  the  river.  On  their  way  back,  they  took  a  nearer  cut, 
but  found  the  villages  all  deserted.  The  reeds  along  the 
banks  of  the  lake  were  crowded  with  fugitives.  "  In 
passing  mile  after  mile,  marked  with  the  sad  proofs  that 
'man's  mhumanity  to  man  makes  countless  thousands 
mourn,'  one  experiences  an  overpowering  sense  of  help- 
lessness to  alleviate  hiunan  woe,  and  breathes  a  silent 
prayer  to  the  Almighty  to  hasten  the  good  time  coming 
when  '  man  to  man,  the  world  o'er,  shall  brothers  be  for 
all  that.'"  Near  a  village  called  Bangwe,  they  were 
pursued  by  a  body  of  Mazitu,  who  retired  when  they 
came  Vv'ithm  ear-shot.  This  little  adventure  seemed 
to  give  rise  to  the  report  that  Dr.  Livingstone  had 
been  murdered  by  the  Makololo,  which  reached  England, 
and  created  no  small  alarm.  Referring  to  the  report 
in  his  jocular  way,  in  a  letter  to  his  friend  Mr.  Fitch 
he  says, — "  A  report  of  my  having  been  mm^dered  at 
the  lake  has  been  very  industriously  cu'culated  by  the 
Portuguese.  Don't  beconle  so  pale  on  getting  a  letter 
from  a  dead  man." 

Reacliing  the  stockade  of  Chinsamba  in  Mosapo,  they 
were  much  pleased  with  that  chief's  kindness.  Dr. 
Livingstone  followed  his  usual  method,  and  gained  his 
usual  influence.  "  When  a  chief  has  made  any  inquiries 
of  us,  we  have  found  that  we  gave  most  satisfaction  in 
our  answers  when  we  tried  to  fancy  ourselves  hi  the 
position  of  the  interrogator,  and  hmi  that  of  a  poor  un- 
educated fellow-countryman  in  England.  The  j^olite, 
respectful  w^ay  of  speaking,  and  behaviour  of  what  we 
«call  'a  thorough  gentleman,'  ahnost  always  secures  the 
friendsliip  and  good- will  of  the  Africans." 

On  1st  November  1863  the  party  reached  the  ship, 
and  found  all  well.  Here,  as  has  been  said,  two  months 
had  to  be  spent  waitmg  for  the  flood,  to  Dr.  Livingstone's 
intense  chagrin. 


320  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xv. 

While  waiting  here  he  received  a  letter  from  Bishop 
Tozer,  the  successor  of  Bishop  Mackenzie,  mforming 
him  that  he  had  resolved  to  abandon  the  Mission  on 
the  continent  and  transfer  operations  to  Zanzibar.  Dr. 
Li\'ingstone  had  very  sincerely  welcomed  the  new  Bishop, 
and  at  first  liked  him,  and  thought  that  his  caution 
would  lead  to  good  results.  Indeed,  when  he  saw  that 
his  own  scheme  was  destroyed  by  the  Portuguese,  he  had 
great  hojDCS  that  what  he  had  been  defeated  in,  the  Mis- 
sion woidd  accomplish.  Some  time  before,  his  hopes  had 
begun  to  wane,  and  now  the  news  conveyed  m  Bishop 
Tozer's  letter  was  their  death-blow.  In  his  reply  he  im- 
plored the  Bishop  to  reconsider  the  matter.  After  urging 
strongly  some  considerations  bearing  on  the  duty  of 
missionaries,  the  reputation  of  Enghshmen,  and  the 
impression  likely  to  be  made  on  the  native  mind,  he 
concluded  thus  : — "  I  hope,  dear  Bishop,  you  will  not 
deem  me  guilty  of  impertinence  in  thus  writing  to  you 
mth  a  sore  heart.  I  see  that  if  you  go,  the  last  ray  of 
hope  for  this  wretched,  trodden-down  people  disappears, 
and  I  again  from  the  bottom  of  my  heart  entreat  you  to 
reconsider  the  matter,  and  may  the  All-wise  One  guide 
to  that  decision  which  will  be  most  for  His  glory." 

And  thus,  for  Livingstone's  lifetmie,  ended  the  Uni- 
versities IMission  to  Central  Africa,  with  all  the  hopes 
which  its  bright  dawn  had  inspired,  that  the  great  Chm'ch 
of  England  would  bend  its  streng-th  against  the  cm^se  of 
Africa,  and  sweep  it  from  the  face  of  the  earth.  Writing 
to  Sir  Thomas  Maclear,  he  said  that  he  felt  this  much 
more  than  his  own  recall.  He  could  hardly  write  of  it ; 
he  was  more  inclined  "  to  sit  down  and  cry."  No  mission^ 
had  ever  had  such  bright  prospects ;  notwithstanding  all 
that  had  been  said  against  it,  he  stood  by  the  climate  as 
firmly  as  ever,  and  if  he  were  only  young,  he  would  go 
hunself  and  plant  the  gospel  there.  It  would  be  done 
one  day  without  fail,  though  he  might  not  live  to  see  it. 


1862-63.]    LAST  TWO  YEARS  OF  THE  EXPEDITION.    321 

As  usual,  Livingstone  found  himself  blamed  for  the 
removal  of  the  Mission.  The  Makololo  had  behaved  badly, 
and  they  were  Livingstone's  people.  "  Isn't  it  interest- 
ing," he  writes  to  Mr.  Moore,  "  to  get  blamed  for  every- 
thing ?  But  I  must  be  thankful  in  feehng  that  I  would 
rather  perish  than  blame  another  for  my  misdeeds  and 
deficiencies." 

We  have  lost  sight  of  Dr.  Stewart  and  the  projected 
mission  of  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland.  As  Dr.  Living- 
stone's arrangements  did  not  admit  of  his  accompanying 
Dr.  Stewart  up  the  Shire,  he  set  out  alone,  falling  in 
afterwards  with  the  Kev.  Mr.  Scudamore,  a  member, 
and  as  w^e  have  abeady  said  ultimately  a  martyr,  of  the 
Universities  Mission.  The  report  which  Dr.  Stewart 
made  of  the  prospects  of  a  mission  was  that,  owing  to 
the  disturbed  state  of  the  country,  no  immediate  action 
could  be  taken.  Livingstone  seemed  to  think  him  hasty 
in  this  conclusion.  The  scheme  continued,  to  be  ardently 
cherished,  and  some  ten  or  twelve  years  after — in  1874 — 
in  the  formation  of  the  "Livingstonia"  mission  and  colony, 
a  most  promising  and  practical  step  was  taken  towards 
the  fulfilment  of  Dr.  Livino-stone's  views.  Dr.  Stewart 
has  proved  one  of  the  best  friends  and  noblest  workers  for 
African  regeneration  both  at  Lovedale  and  Livingstonia 
— a  strong  man  on  whom  other  men  may  lean,  with  his 
whole  heart  in  the  cause  of  Africa. 

In  the  breaking  up  of  the  Universities  Mission,  it  was 
necessary  that  some  arrangement  should  be  made  on  be- 
half of  about  thirty  boys  and  a  few  helpless  old  persons 
and  others,  a  portion  of  the  rescued  slaves,  who  had  been 
taken  under  the  charge  of  the  Mission,  and  could  not  be 
abandoned.  The  fear  of  the  Portuguese  seemed  likely  to 
lead  to  their  being  left  behind.  But  Livingstone  could 
not  bear  the  idea.  He  thought  it  would  be  highly 
discreditable  to  the  good  name  of  England,  and  an 
affront  to  the  memory  of  Bishop  Mackenzie,  to  "  repu- 

X 


322  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xv. 

diate"  his  act  in  taking  them  under  his  protection. 
Therefore,  when  Bishop  Tozer  would  not  accept  the 
charge,  he  himself  took  them  in  hand,  giving  orders  to  Mr. 
E.  D.  Young  (as  he  says  in  his  Journal),  "  in  the  event 
of  any  Portuguese  interfering  with  them  in  his  absence, 
to  pitch  him  overboard  ! '"'  Through  his  influence  arrange- 
ments were  made,  as  we  shall  see,  for  conveying  them  to 
the  Cape.  Mr.  R.  M.  Ballantyne,  in  his  Six  Months 
at  the  Cape,  tells  us  that  he  found,  some  years  after- 
wards, among  the  most  efficient  teachers  in  St.  George's 
Orphanage,  Cape  Town,  one  of  these  black  girls,  named 
Dauma,  whom  Bishop  Mackenzie  had  personally  rescued 
and  carried  on  his  shoulders,  and  whom  Livingstone  now 
rescued  a  second  time. 

Livingstone  s  plan  for  himself  was  to  sail  to  Bom- 
bay in  the  "Lady  Nyassa,"  and  endeavour  to  sell  her 
there,  before  returning  home.  The  Portuguese  would 
have  liked  to  get  her,  to  employ  her  as  a  slaver — "  But," 
he  wrote  to  his  daughter  {10th  August  1863),  "I  would 
rather  see  her  go  down  to  the  depths  of  the  Indian  Ocean 
than  that.  We  have  not  been  able  to  do  all  that  we 
intended  for  this  country,  owing  to  the  jealousy  and 
slave-hunting  of  the  Portuguese.  They  have  hindered 
us  eflectually  by  sweeping  away  the  population  into 
slavery.  Thousands  have  perished,  and  wherever  we 
go,  human  skeletons  apj)ear.  I  suppose  that  our  Govern- 
ment could  not  prevail  on  the  Portuguese  to  put  a  stop 
to  this ;  so  we  are  recalled.  I  am  only  sorry  that  we 
ever  began  near  these  slavers,  but  the  great  men  of 
Portugal  professed  so  loudly  theu"  eager  desire  to  help 
us  (and  in  the  case  of  the  late  King  I  think  there  was 
sincerity),  that  I  believed  them,  and  now  find  out  j:hat 
it  was  all  for  show  in  Europe.  ...  If  missions  were 
established  as  we  hoped.  I  should  still  hope  for  good 
being  done  to  this  land,  but  the  new  Bishop  had  to  pay 
fourpence  for  every  pound  weight  of  calico  he  bought, 


1862-63.]   LAST  TWO  YEARS  OF  THE  EXPEDITION.    323 

and  calico  is  as  much  currency  here  as  money  is  in 
Glasgow.  It  looks  as  if  they  wished  to  prohibit  any  one 
else  coming,  and,  unfortunately.  Bishop  Tozer,  a  good 
man  enough,  lacks  courage.  .  .  .  What  a  mission  it 
would  be  if  there  were  no  difficulties  —  nothing  but 
walkmg  about  in  slippers  made  by  admiring  young  ladies  I 
Hey  1  that  w^ould  not  suit  me.  It  would  give  me  the 
doldrums ;  but  there  are  many  tastes  in  the  world." 

Looking  back  on  the  work  of  the  last  six  years,  while 
deeply  grieved  that  the  great  object  of  the  Expedition 
had  not  been  achieved,  Dr.  Livingstone  was  able  to  pomt 
to  some  important  results  : — 

1.  The  discovery  of  the  Kongone  harbour,  and  the 
ascertaining  of  the  condition  of  the  Zambesi  river,  and 
its  fitness  for  navigation. 

\L.  The  ascertaining  of  the  capacity  of  the  sod.  It 
was  found  to  be  admirably  adapted  for  indigo  and  cotton, 
as  well  as  tobacco,  castor-oil,  and  sugar.  Its  great  fer- 
tility was  shown  by  its  gigantic  grasses,  and  abundant 
crops  of  corn  and  maize.  The  highlands  were  free  from 
tsetse  and  mosquitos.  The  draw^back  to  all  this  was 
the  occmTence  of  periodical  droughts,  once  every  few 
years. 

3.  But  every  fine  featiu-e  of  the  country  was  bathed 
in  gloom  by  the  slave-trade.  The  image  left  in  Dr. 
Livingstone's  mind  was  not  that  of  the  rich,  sunny, 
luxuriant  country,  but  that  of  the  woe  and  wretched- 
ness of  the  people.  The  real  service  of  the  Expedition 
was,  that  it  had  exposed  slavery  at  its  fountain-head, 
and  in  aU  its  phases.  First,  there  was  the  internal 
slave-trade  between  hostde  native  tribes.  Then,  there 
were  the  slave-traders  from  the  coast,  Arabs,  or  half- 
caste  Portuguese,  for  whom  natives  were  encouraged  to 
collect  slaves  by  all  the  horrible  means  of  marauding 
and  murder.  And  further,  there  were  the  parties  sent 
out  from  Portuofuese  and  Arab   coast  towns,  with  cloth 


324  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xv. 

and  beads,  muskets  and  ammunition.  The  destructive 
and  murderous  effects  of  the  last  were  the  chmax  of 
the  system. 

Dr.  Livingstone  had  seen  nothing  to  make  him  regard 
the  African  as  of  a  different  species  from  the  rest  of  the 
human  family.  Nor  was  he  the  lowest  of  the  species. 
He  had  a  strong  frame  and  a  wonderfully  persistent 
vitality,  was  free  from  many  European  diseases,  and  could 
withstand  privations  with  wonderful  light -heart  edness. 

He  did  not  deem  it  necessary  formally  to  answer  a 
question  sometimes  put,  whether  the  African  had  enough 
of  intellect  to  receive  Christianity.  The  reception  of 
Christianity  did  not  depend  on  intellect.  It  depended, 
as  Sir  James  Stephen  had  remarked,  on  a  spmtual 
intuition,  which  was  not  the  fruit  of  intellectual  culture. 
But,  in  fact,  the  success  of  missions  on  the  West  Coast 
showed  that  not  only  could  the  African  be  converted  to 
Christianity,  but  that  Christianity  might  take  root  and 
be  cordially  supported  by  the  African  race. 

It  was  the  accursed  slave-trade,  promoted  by  the 
Portuguese,  that  had  frustrated  everything.  For  some 
time  to  come  his  efforts  and  his  prayers  must  be  directed 
to  getting  influential  men  to  see  this,  so  that  one  way  or 
other  the  trade  might  be  abolished  for  ever.  The  hope 
of  obtaining  access  to  the  heart  of  Africa  by  another 
route  than  that  through  the  Portuguese  settlements  was 
still  in  Livingstone's  heart.  He  would  go  home,  but 
only  for  a  few  months ;  at  the  earliest  possible  moment 
he  would  retiu-n  to  look  for  a  new  route  to  the  interior. 


[864-]  QVILIMANE  TO  BOMBAY.  325 


CHAPTER  XYI. 

QUILIMANE   TO   BOMBAY  AND   ENGLAND. 
A.D.  1864. 

Livingstone  returns  the  "Pioneer"  to  the  Navy,  and  is  to  sail  in  the  "  Nyassa" 
to  Bombay — Terrific  circular  storm — Imminent  peril  of  the  "Nyassa" — He 
reaches  ^Mozambique — Letter  to  his  daughter — Proceeds  to  Zanzibar — His 
engineer  leaves  him — Scanty  crew  of  "Nyassa" — Livingstone  captain  and 
engineer — Peril  of  the  voyage  of  2500  miles— Risk  of  the  monsoons — The 
"Nyassa"  becalmed — Illness  of  the  men — Remarks  on  African  travel — Flying- 
fish — Dolphins — Curiosities  of  his  Journal — Idea  of  a  colony — Furious  squall 
— Two  sea-serpents  seen — More  squalls — The  "Nyassa"  enters  Bombay 
harbour — Is  uimoticed — First  visit  from  officer  with  Custom-house  schedules 
— How  filled  up — Attention  of  Sir  Bartle  Frere  and  others— Livingstone  goes 
with  the  Governor  to  Dapuri — His  feelings  on  landing  in  India — Letter  to  Sir 
Thomas  Maclear — He  visits  mission-schools,  etc.,  at  Poonah — Slaving  in 
Persian  Gulf — Returns  to  Bombay — Leaves  two  boys  with  Dr.  Wilson — 
Borrows  passage-money  and  sails  for  England — At  Aden — At  Alexandria — 
Reaches  Charing  Cross — Encouragement  derived  from  his  Bombay  ^dsit — 
Two  projects  contemplated  on  his  way  home. 

On  reaching  the  mouth  of  the  Zambesi,  Dr.  Livingstone 
was  fortunate  in  falUng  in,  on  the  13th  February,  with 
H.M.S.  "  Orestes,"  wliich  was  joined  on  the  14th  by  the 
"  Ariel."  The  "  Orestes"  took  the  "  Pioneer"  in  tow,  and 
the  "Ariel"  the  "Lady  Nyassa,"  and  brought  them  to 
Mozamt)ique.  The  day  after  they  set  out,  a  circular 
storm  passed  over  them,  raging  with  the  utmost  fury, 
and  creating  the  greatest  danger.  Often  as  Dr.  Living- 
stone had  been  near  the  gates  of  death,  he  was  never 
nearer  than  now.  He  had  been  offered  a  passage  on 
board  the  "  Ariel,"  but  while  there  was  danger  he  would 
not  leave  the  "  Lady  Nyassa."     Had  the  latter  not  been 


326  jDA  VID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xvi. 

an  excellent  sea-ship  she  could  not  have  survived  the 
tempest ;  all  the  greater  was  Dr.  Livingstone's  grief  that 
she  had  never  reached  the  lake  for  which  she  was  adapted 
so  well. 

Writing  to  his  daughter  Agnes  from  Mozambique, 
he  gives  a  very  graphic  account  of  the  storm,  after  telling 
her  the  manner  of  their  leaving  the  Zambesi : — 

^' Mozamhique,  2Uh  Feb.  18G4. — "When  our  patience  had  been  well 
nigh  exhausted  the  river  rose  and  we  steamed  gladly  down  the  Shire 
on  the  19th  of  last  month.  An  accident  detained  us  some  time,  but 
on  the  1st  February  we  were  close  by  Morumbala,  where  the  Bishop 
[Tozer]  passed  a  short  time  before  bolting  out  of  the  country.  I  took 
two  members  of  the  Mission  away  in  the  '  Pioneer,'  and  thirteen 
women  and  children,  whom  having  liberated  we  did  not  like  to  leave 
to  become  the  certain  prey  of  slavers  again.  The  Bishop  left  twenty- 
five  boys  too,  and  these  also  I  took  with  me,  hoping  to  get  them 
conveyed  to  the  Cape,  where  I  trust  they  may  become  acquainted  with 
our  holy  religion.  We  had  thus  quite  a  swarm  on  board,  all  very 
glad  to  get  away  from  a  land  of  slaves.  There  were  many  more 
liberated,  but  we  took  only  the  helpless  and  those  very  anxious  to  be 
free  and  with  English  people.  Those  who  could  cultivate  the  soil 
we  encouraged  to  do  so,  and  left  up  the  river.  Only  one  boy  was 
unwilling  to  go,  and  he  was  taken  by  the  Bishop.  It  is  a  great  pity 
that  the  Bishop  Avithdrew  the  Mission,  for  he  had  a  noble  chance  of 
doing  great  things.  The  captives  would  have  formed  a  fine  school, 
and  as  they  had  no  parents  he  could  have  educated  them  as  he  liked. 

"  When  Ave  reached  the  sea-coast  at  Luabo  Ave  met  a  man-of-Avar, 
H.M.  S.  '  Orestes.'  I  Avent  to  her  Avith  '  Pioneer,'  and  sent  '  Lady 
Nyassa'  round  by  inland  canal  to  Kongone.  Next  day  I  went  into 
Kongone  in  'Pioneer;'  took  our  things  out  of  her,  and  handed  her 
over  to  the  officers  of  the  'Orestes.'  Then  H.M.S.  'Ariel'  came  and 
took  'Nyassa'  in  tow,  'Orestes'  having  'Pioneer.'  Captain  Chap- 
man of  '  Ariel '  very  kindly  invited  me  on  board  to  save  me  from  the 
knocking  about  of  the  '  Lady  Nyassa,'  but  I  did  not  like  to  leave  so 
long  as  there  Avas  any  danger,  and  accepted  his  invitation  for  Mr.  Waller, 
Avho  Avas  dreadfully  sea-sick.  On  15th  Ave  Avere  caught  by  a  hurri- 
cane which  whirled  the  '  Ariel '  right  round.  Her  sails,  quickly  put  to 
rights,  were  again  backed  so  that  the  ship  Avas  driven  backwards  and  a 
hawser  wound  itself  round  her  screAV,  so  as  to  stop  the  engines.  By 
this  time  she  Avas  turned  so  as  to  be  looking  right  across  '  Lady  Nyassa,' 
and  the  Avind  alone  propelling  her  as  if  to  go  over  the  little  A'essel. 
I  saw  no  hope  of  escape  except  by  catching  a  rope's-end  of  the  big 
ship  as  she  passed  over  us,  but  by  God's  goodness  she  glided  past,  and 
Ave  felt  free  to  breathe.      That  night  it  blew  a  furious  gale.     The 


J 864.]  QUILIMANE  TO  BOMBAY.  327 

captain  offered  to  lower  a  boat  if  I  would  come  to  the  'Ariel/  but  it 
would  have  endangered  all  in  the  boat :  the  waves  dashed  so  hard 
against  the  sides  of  the  vessel,  it  might  have  been  swamped,  and  my 
going  away  would  have  taken  heart  out  of  those  that  remained.  We 
then  passed  a  terrible  ni'ght,  but  the  '  Lady  Nyassa '  did  wonderfully 
well,  rising  like  a  little  duck  over  the  foaming  billows.  She  took  in 
spray  alone,  and  no  green  Avater.  The  man-of-war's  people  expected 
that  she  would  go  down,  and  it  was  wonderful  to  see  how  well  she 
did  when  the  big  man-of-war,  only  about  200  feet  otf,  plunged  so  as 
to  show  a  large  portion  of  copper  on  her  bottom,  then  down  behind 
so  as  to  have  the  sea  level  with  the  top  of  her  bulwarks.  A  boat 
hung  at  that  level  was  smashed.  If  we  had  gone  down  v,'e  could  not 
have  been  helloed  in  the  least — pitch  dark,  and  wind  whistling  above ; 
the  black  folks,  '  ane  bocking  here,  anither  thei-e,'  and  wanting  us  to 
go  to  the  'bank.'  On  18th  the  weather  moderated,  and,  the  captain 
repeating  his  very  kind  offer,  I  Avent  on  board  with  a  good  conscience, 
and  even  then  the  boat  got  damaged.  I  was  hoisted  up  in  it,  and  got 
rested  in  what  was  quite  a  steady  ship  as  compared  with  the  '  Lady 
Nyassa.'  The  'Ariel '  Avas  three  days  cutting  off  the  hawser,  though 
nine  feet  under  water,  the  men  diving  and  cutting  it  Avith  immensely 
long  chisels.  On  the  19  th  aa'c  spoke  to  a  Liverpool  ship,  requesting 
the  captain  to  report  me  alive,  a  silly  report  having  been  circulated  by 
the  Portuguese  that  I  had  been  killed  at  Lake  Nyassa,  and  on  the 
24th  Ave  entered  Mozambique  harbour,  very  thankful  for  our  kind 
and  merciful  preservation.  The  '  Orestes '  has  not  arrived  Avith  the 
*  Pioneer,'  though  she  is  a  much  more  poAverful  vessel  than  the  'Ariel.' 
Here  Ave  have  a  fort,  built  in  1500,  and  said  to  be  of  stones  brought 
from  Lisbon.  It  is  a  square  massive-looking  structure.  The  toAvn 
adjacent  is  Arab  in  appearance.  The  houses  flat-roofed  and  coloured 
Avhite,  pink,  and  yelloAv  ;  streets  narroAv,  Avith  plenty  of  slaves  on 
them.  It  is  on  an  island,  the  mainland  on  the  north  being  about  a 
mile  off." 

The  "  Pioneer "  was  delivered  over  to  the  Navy, 
being  Her  Majesty's  property,  and  proceeded  to  the  Cape 
with  the  "  Valorous,"  Mr.  Waller  being  on  board  with  a 
portion  of  the  mission  flock.  Of  Mr.  Waller  (subsequently 
editor  of  the  Last  Journals)  Dr.  Livingstone  remarked 
that  "  he  continued  his  generous  services  to  all  connected 
with  the  Mission,  whether  white  or  black,  till  they  were 
nq  longer  needed  ;  his  conduct  to  them  throughout  was 
truly  noble,  and  worthy  of  the  highest  praise." 

After  remaming  some  weeks  at  Mozambique  for 
thorough  repairs,  the  "Lady  Nyassa"  left  on  16th  April 


328  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  [chap.  xvi. 

for  Johanna  and  Zanzibar.  She  was  unable  to  touch  at 
the  former  place,  and  reached  Zanzibar  on  the  24th. 
Offers  were  made  for  her  there,  which  might  have  led  to 
lier  being  sold,  but  her  owner  did  not  "think  them  sufficient, 
and  in  jDoint  of  fact,  he  could  not  make  up  his  mind  to  part 
with  her.  He  clung  to  the  hope  that  she  might  yet  be 
useful,  and  to  sell  her  seemed  equivalent  to  abandoning 
all  hope  of  carrying  out  his  philanthropic  schemes.  At 
all  events,  till  he  should  consult  Mr.  Young  he  would  not 
sell  her  at  such  a  sacrifice.  At  Zanzibar  he  found  that  a 
naval  gentleman,  who  had  been  lately  there,  had  not  spoken 
of  him  in  the  most  complimentary  terms.  But  it  had 
not  hurt  him  with  his  best  friends.  "  Indeed,  I  find  that 
evil-speaking  against  me  has,  by  the  good  providence  of 
my  God,  turned  rather  to  my  benefit.  I  got  two  of  my 
best  friends  by  being  spoken  ill  of,  for  they  found  me  so 
different  from  what  they  had  been  led  to  expect  that  they 
befriended  me  more  than  they  otherwise  would  have  d6ne. 
It  is  the  good  hand  of  Him  who  has  all  in  His  power  that 
influences  other  hearts  to  show  me  kindness." 

The  only  available  plan  now  was  to  cross  the  Indian 
Ocean  for  Bombay,  or  possibly  Aden,  in  the  "  Nyassa"  and 
leave  the  ship  there  till  he  should  make  a  run  home, 
considt  with  his  friends  as  to  the  future,  and  find  means 
for  the  prosecution  of  his  work.  At  Zanzibar  a  new 
difficulty  arose.  Mr.  Bae,  the  engineer,  who  had  now 
been  with  him  for  many  years,  and  with  whom,  despite 
his  jieculiarities,  he  got  on  very  well,  signified  his  inten- 
tion of  leaving  him.  He  had  the  offer  of  a  good  situation, 
and  wished  to  accept  of  it.  He  was  not  without  com- 
j^unctions  at  leaving  his  friend  in  the  lurch,  and  told 
Livingstone  that  if  he  had  had  no  offer  for  the  ship  he 
would  have  gone  with  him,  but  as  he  had  declmed  the 
offer  made  to  him,  he  did  not  feel  under  obligation  to 
do  so.  Livingstone  was  too  generous  to  press  him  to 
remain.     It  was  impossible  to  supply  Mr.  Bae's  place,  and 


1S64.]  QUILIMANE  TO  BOMBAY.  329 

if  anything  should  go  wrong  with  the  engines,  what  was 
to  be  done  ?  The  enthe  crew  of  the  vessel  consisted  of 
four  Europeans,  namely.  Dr.  Livingstone — "  skipper,"  one 
stoker,  one  carpenter,  and  one  sailor ;  seven  native 
Zambesians,  who,  till  they  volunteered,  had  never  seen 
the  sea,  and  two  boys,  one  of  whom  was  Chuma,  after- 
wards his  attendant  on  the  last  journey.  With  this 
somewhat  sorry  complement,  and  fourteen  tons  of  coal, 
Dr.  Livingstone  set  out  on  30th  April,  on  a  voyage  of 
2500  miles,  over  an  ocean  which  he  had  never  crossed. 

It  was  a  very  perilous  enterprise,  for  he  was  informed 
that  the  breakingf  of  the  monsoon  occurred  at  the  end 
of  May  or  the  beginning  of  June.  Tliis,  as  he  came  to 
tliink,  was  too  early  ;  but  in  any  case,  he  would  come  very 
near  the  dangerous  time.  As  he  wrote  to  one  of  his 
friends,  he  felt  jammed  into  a  corner,  and  what  could  he 
do  ?  He  beheved  from  the  best  information  he  could  get 
that  he  would  reach  Bombay  in  eighteen  days.  Had 
any  one  told  him  that  he  would  be  forty-five  days  at  sea, 
and  that  for  twenty-five  of  these  his  sliip  w^ould  be 
becalmed,  and  even  when  she  had  a  favourable  wind 
would  not  sail  fast,  even  he  would  have  looked  pale  at 
the  thought  of  what  was  before  him.  The  voyage  was 
certamly  a  memorable  one,  and  has  only  escaped  fame  by 
the  still  greater  wonders  performed  by  Livingstone  on 
land. 

On  the  first  day  of  the  voyage,  he  made  considerable 
w^ay,  but  Collyer,  one  of  his  white  men,  was  prostrated  by 
a  bihous  attack.  However,  one  of  the  black  men  speedily 
learned  to  steer,  and  took  Dr.  Livingstone's  place  at  the 
wheel.  Hardly  was  Collyer  better  when  Pennell,  another 
of  his  men,  was  seized.  The  chief  foes  of  the  ship  were 
currents  and  calms.  Owing  to  the  illness  of  the  men  they 
could  not  steam,  and  the  sails  were  almost  useless.  Even- 
steam,  when  they  got  it  up,  enabled  them  only  to  creep. 
On   20th  May,  Livingstone,  after  recording  but  sixteen 


330  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xvi. 

knots  in  the  last  twenty-four  hours,  says  in  his  Journal : 
"This  very  unusual  weather  has  a  very  depressing  influence 
on  my  mind.  I  often  feel  as  if  I  am  to  die  on  this  voyage, 
and  wish  I  had  sent  the  accounts  to  the  Government,  as 
also  my  chart  of  the  Zambesi.  I  often  wish  that  I  may 
be  permitted  to  do  something  for  the  benighted  of  Africa. 
I  shall  have  nothing  to  do  at  home  ;  by  the  failure  of  the 
Universities  Mission  my  work  seems  vain.  No  fruit 
likely  to  come  from  J.  Moffat's  mission  either.  Have  I 
/  not  laboured  in  vain  ?  Am  I  to  be  cut  off  before  I  do 
anything  to  effect  permanent  improvement  in  Africa  ?  I 
have  been  unprofitable  enough,  but  may  do  something 
yet,  ill  giving  information.  If  spared,  God  grant  that  I 
may  be  more  faithful  than  I  have  been,  and  may  He 
open  up  the  way  for  me  !" 

Next  day  the  weather  was  as  still  as  ever ;  the  sea  a 
glassy  calm,  Avith  a  hot  glaring  sun,  and  sharks  stalking 
about.  "  All  ill-natured,"  says  honest  Livingstone, ''  and 
in  this  I  am  sorry  to  feel  compelled  to  join." 

There  is  no  sign  of  ill-nature,  however,  in  the  follow- 
ing remarks  on  African  travel,  in  his  Journal  for  23d 
May :- 

"  In  travelling  in  Africa,  with  the  specific  object  in  view  of  amelio- 
rating the  benighted  condition  of  the  country,  every  act  is  ennobled. 
In  obtaining  shelter  for  the  nigbt,  and  exchanging  the  customary 
civilities,  purchasing  food  for  one's  party  and  asking  the  news  of  the 
country,  and  answering  in  their  own  polite  way  any  inquiries  made 
respecting  the  object  of  the  journey,  we  begin  to  spread  information 
respecting  that  people  by  whose  agency  their  land  will  yet  be  made 
free  from  the  evils  that  now  oppress  it.  The  mere  animal  pleasure  of 
travelling  is  very  great.  The  elastic  muscles  have  been  exercised. 
Fresh  and  healthy  blood  circulates  in  the  veins,  the  eye  is  clear,  the 
step  firm,  but  the  day's  exertion  has  been  enough  to  make  rest 
thoroughly  enjoyable.  There  is  always  the  influence  of  the  remote 
chances  of  danger  on  the  mind,  either  from  men  or  wild  beasts,  and 
there  is  the  fellow-feeling  drawn  out  to  one's  humble,  hardy  companions, 
with  whom  a  community  of  interests  and  perils  renders  one  friends 
indeed.  The  effect  of  travel  on  my  mind  has  been  to  make  it  more 
self-reliant,  confident  of  resources  and  presence  of  mind.     On  the  body 


1864.]  QUILIMANE  TO  BOMBAY.  331 

the  limbs  become  well-knit,  the  muscles  after  six  months'  tramping  are 
as  hard  as  a  board,  the  countenance  bronzed  as  was  Adam's,  and  no 
dyspepsia. 

"  In  remaining  at  any  spot,  it  is  to  work.  The  sweat  of  the  brow 
is  no  longer  a  curse  when  one  works  for  God ;  it  is  converted  into  a 
blessing.  It  is  a  tonic  to  the  system.  The  charms  of  repose  cannot 
be  known  without  the  excitement  of  exertion.  Most  travellers  seem 
taken  up  with  the  difficulties  of  the  way,  the  pleasures  of  roaming  free 
in  the  most  picturesque  localities  seem  forgotten." 

Towards  the  end  of  May  a  breeze  at  last  springs  up  ; 
many  flying-fisli  come  on  board,  and  Livingstone  is  as 
usual  intent  on  observation.  He  observes  them  fly  with 
great  ease  a  hundred  yards,  the  dolphin  pursuing  them 
swiftly,  but  not  so  swiftly  as  they  can  fly.  He  notices 
that  the  dolphin's  bright  colours  aflbrd  a  w^arning  to  his 
enemies,  and  give  them  a  chance  of  escape.  Incessant 
activity  is  a  law  in  obtaining  food.  If  the  prey  could  be 
caught  with  ease,  and  no  warning  were  given,  the 
balance  would  be  turned  against  the  feebler  animals,  and 
carnivora  alone  would  prevail.  The  cat  shows  her 
shortened  tail,  and  the  rattlesnake  shakes  his  tail,  to 
give  warnmg  to  the  prey.  The  flying-fish  has  large  eyes 
in  proportion  to  other  fish,  yet  leaps  on  board  very  often 
at  night,  and  kills  himself  by  the  concussion. 

Livingstone  is  in  great  perplexity  what  to  do.  At 
the  rate  at  which  his  ship  is  going  it  would  take  him 
fifteen  days  to  reach  Bombay,  being  one  day  before  the 
breaking  of  the  monsoon,  which  would  be  running  it  too 
close  to  danger.  He  thinks  of  going  to  Aden,  but  that 
would  require  him  to  go  first  to  MacuUa  for  water  and 
provisions.  When  he  tries  Aden  the  wind  is  against  him  ; 
so  he  turns  the  ship's  head  to  Bombay,  though  he  has 
water  enough  for  but  ten  or  twelve  days  on  short  allow- 
ance. "  May  the  Almighty  be  gracious  to  us  all,  and 
help  us  ! " 

His  Journal  is  a  curious  combination  of  nautical  ob- 
servations and  reflections  on  Africa  and  his  work.     We 


332  DA  VJD  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xvi. 

seem  to  hear  him  pacing  his  little  deck,  and  thinking 
aloud  : — 

"  The  idea  of  a  colony  in  Africa,  as  the  term  colony  is  usually 
understood,  cannot  be  entertained.  English  races  cannot  compete  in 
manual  labour  of  any  kind  with  the  natives,  but  they  can  take  a 
leading  jiart  in  managing  the  land,  improving  the  quality,  in  creat- 
ing the  quantity  and  extending  the  varieties  of  the  productions  of 
the  soil ;  and  by  taking  a  lead  too  in  trade,  and  in  all  public  matters, 
the  Englishman  would  be  an  unmixed  advantage  to  every  one  below 
and  around  him,  for  he  would  fill  a  place  which  is  now  practically  vacant. 

"  It  is  difficult  to  convey  an  idea  of  the  country  ;  it  is  so  different 
from  all  preconceived  notions.  The  country  in  many  parts  rises  up  to 
plateaus,  slopes  up  to  Avhich  are  diversified  by  valleys  lined  with  trees; 
or  here  and  there  rocky  blufts  jut  out;  the  plateaus  themselves  are 
open  prairies  covered  Avith  grass  dotted  over  with  trees,  and  Avatered 
by  numerous  streams.  Nor  are  they  absolutely  flat,  their  surface  is 
varied  by  picturesque  undulations.  Deep  gorges  and  ravines  leading 
down  to  the  lower  levels  offer  special  beauties,  and  landscapes  from 
the  edges  of  the  higher  plateaus  are  in  their  Avay  unequalled.  Thence 
the  winding  of  the  Shire  may  be  followed  like  a  silver  thread  or  broad 
lake  with  its  dark  mountain  mass  behind. 

"  I  think  that  the  Oxford  and  Cambridge  missionaries  have  treated 
me  badly  in  trying  to  make  me  the  scapegoat  for  their  own  blunders 
and  inefficiency.  .  .  .  But  I  shall  try  equitably  and  gently  to  make 
allowances  for  human  weakness,  though  that  weakness  has  caused  me 
much  suffering." 

On  28th  May  they  had  something  like  a  foretaste 
of  the  breaking  of  the  monsoon,  though  happily  that 
event  did  not  yet  take  place.  "  At  noon  a  dense  cloud 
came  down  on  us  from  e.  and  n.e.,  and  blew  a  fuiious 
gale  ;  tore  sails  ;  the  ship,  as  is  her  wont,  rolled  broadside 
mto  it,  and  nearly  rolled  quite  over.  Everything  was 
hurled  hither  and  thither.  It  lasted  half  an  hour,  then 
passed  with  a  little  ram.  It  was  terrible  while  it  lasted. 
We  had  calm  after  it,  and  sky  brightened  up.  Thank 
God  for  His  goodness." 

In  June  there  was  more  wind,  but  a  pecidiarity  in 
the  construction  of  the  ship  impeded  her  progress 
through  the  water.  It  was  still  very  tedious  and  trying. 
Livingstone  seems  to  have  been  reading  books  that 
would  take  his  attention  off  the  very  trying  weather. 


1S64.]  QUILIMANE  TO  BOMBAY.  333 

"  Lord  Ravens  worth  has  heen  trying  for  twenty  years 
to  render  the  Hnes  in  Horace — 

'  Dulce  ridentem  Lalagen  amabo 
Dulce  loquentem.' 

And  after  every  conceivable  variety  of  form  this  is  the 

best : — 

*  The  softly  speaking  Lai  age, 
The  softly  smiling  still  for  me.' 

Pity  he  had  nothing  better  to  engage  his  powers,  for 
instance  the  translating  of  the  Bible  mto  one  of  the 
languages  of  the  world," 

The  10th  of  June  was  introduced  by  a  furious  squall 
which  tore  the  fore  square-sail  to  ribbons.  A  curious 
sight  is  seen  at  sea  :  "two  serpents — said  to  be  often  seen 
on  the  coast.  One  dark  olive,  with  light  yellow  rings 
round  it,  and  flattened  tail ;  the  other  lighter  in  colour. 
They  seeiTL  to  be  salt-water  animals." 

Next  day,  a  wet  scowling  morning.  Frequent  rains, 
and  thunder  in  the  distance.  "  A  poor  weak  creature. 
Permit  me  to  lean  on  an  all-powerful  arm." 

"  The  squalls  usually  come  up  right  against  the  wind, 
and  cast  all  our  sails  aback.  This  makes  them  so 
dangerous,  active  men  are  required  to  trim  them  to  the 
other  side.  We  sighted  land  a  little  before  12,  the  high 
land  of  Rutnagerry.  I  thought  of  going  in,  but  finding 
that  we  have  twenty-eight  hours'  steam,  I  changed  my 
mind,  and  pushed  on  for  Bombay,  115  miles  distant. 
We  are  nearer  the  land  down  here  than  we  like,  but  our 
N.w.  wind  has  prevented  us  from  making  northing. 
We  hope  for  a  little  change,  and  possibly  may  get  in 
nicely.    .  The  good  Lord  of  all  help  us  ! 

"  At  3  P.M.  wind  and  sea  high ;  very  hazy.  Rain- 
ing, with  a  strong  head  wind  ;  at  8  p.m.  a  heavy  squall 
came  off  the  land  on  our  east.  Wind  whistled  through 
the   rigging   loudly,    and    we  made    but  little    progress 


334  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xvi. 

steaming.  At  11  p.m.  a  nice  breeze  sprang  up  from  east 
and  helped  us.  About  12  a  white  patch  reported 
seemed  a  shoal,  but  none  is  marked  on  the  chart.  Steered 
a  point  more  out  from  land ;  another  white  patch 
marked  in  middle  watch.  Sea  and  wind  lower  at  3  a.m. 
At  daylight  we  found  ourselves  abreast  high  land  at  least 
500  feet  above  sea-level.  Wind  light,  and  from  east, 
which  enables  us  to  use  fore  and  aft  try-sails.  A  ground- 
swell  on,  but  we  are  getting  along,  and  feel  very  thankful 
to  Him  who  has  favoured  us.  Hills  not  so  beautifully 
coloured  as  those  in  Africa.  .  .  . 

"  At  7  P.M.  a  furious  squall  came  off  the  land ;  could 
scarcely  keep  the  bonnets  on  our  heads.  Pitchy  dark, 
except  the  white  curl  on  the  waves,  which  v/as  phos- 
phorescent. Seeing  that  we  could  not  enter  the  harbour, 
though  we  had  been  near,  I  stopped  the  steaming  and 
got  up  the  try-sails,  and  let  Pennell,  who  has  been  up 
thirty  hours,  get  a  sleep. 

"  \^th  June  1864. — We  found  that  w^e  had  come 
north  only  about  ten  miles.  We  had  calms  after  the 
squall,  and  this  morning  the  sea  is  as  smooth  as  glass, 
and  a  thick  haze  over  the  land.  A  scum  as  of  dust  on 
face  of  water.  We  are,  as  near  as  I  can  guess  by  the 
chart,  about  twenty -five  miles  from  the  port  of  Bombay. 
Came  to  Choul  Rock  at  mid-day,  and,  latitude  agreeing 
thereto,  pushed  on  n.  by  w^  tiU  we  came  to  light-ship. 
It  was  so  hazy  inland  we  could  see  nothing  whatever, 
then  took  the  direction  by  chart,  and  steered  right  into 
Bombay  most  thankfully.  I  mention  God's  good  provi- 
dence over  me,  and  beg  that  He  may  accept  my  spared 
life  for  His  service." 

Between  the  fog  and  the  small  size  of  the  Nyassa,  her 
entrance  into  the  harbour  was  not  observed.  Among 
Livingstone's  first  acts  on  anchoring  was  to  give  hand- 
some gratuities  to  those  who  had  shared  his  danger  and 
helped  him  in  his  straits.  Going  ashore,  he  called  on  the 
Governor  and  the  police  magistrate,  but  the  one  was 


1 864.]  QUILIMANE  TO  BOMBAY.  335 

absent  and  the  other  busy,  and  so  he  returned  to  the  ship 
unrecognised.  The  schedules  of  the  Custom-house  sent 
to  be  filled  up  Avere  his  first  recognition  by  the  autho- 
rities of  Bombay.  He  replied  that  except  a  few  bales  of 
calico  and  a  box  of  beads  he  had  no  merchandise  ;  he  was 
consigned  to  no  one  ;  the  seamen  had  only  their  clothes, 
and  he  did  not  know  a  single  soul  in  Bombay.  As  soon 
as  his  arrival  was  known  every  attention  was  showered 
on  him  by  Sir  Bartle  Frere,  the  Governor,  and  others. 
They  had  been  looking  out  for  him,  but  he  liad  eluded 
their  notice.  The  Governor  was  residing  at  Dapuri,  and 
on  his  invitation  Livingstone  went  there.  Stopping  at 
Poena,  he  called  on  the  missionaries,  and  riding  on  an 
elephant  he  saw  some  of  the  "lions"  of  the  place.  Colonel 
Stewart,  who  accompanied  him,  threw  some  light  on  the 
sea-serpent.  "  He  told  us  that  the  yellow  sea-serpent 
which  we  had  seen  before  reaching  Bombay  is  poisonous  ; 
there  are  two  kinds — one  dark  ohve,  the  other  pale  lemon 
colour  ;  both  have  rings  of  brighter  yellow  on  their  tails." 

Landing  in  Lidia  was  a  strange  experience,  as  he  tells 
Sir  Thomas  Maclear.  "  To  walk  amongf  the  teemuio' 
thousands  of  all  classes  of  population,  and  see  so  many 
things  that  reading  and  pictures  had  made  familiar  to  the 
mind  was  very  mteresting.  The  herds  of  the  bufialoes, 
kept  I  believe  for  their  milk,  invariably  made  the 
question  glance  across  the  mind,  'Where's  your  rifle?' 
Nor  could  I  look  at  the  elephants  either  without  some- 
thing of  the  same  feeling.  Hundreds  of  bales  of  cotton 
were  lying  on  the  wharves." 

"  l^tli  June  1864.— Went  with  Captain  Leith  to 
Poena  to  visit  the  Free  Church  Mission  Schools  there, 
under  the  Rev.  Mr.  Mitchell,  Gardner,  etc,  A  very  fine 
school  of  500  boys  and  young  men  answered  questions 
very  well,  ,  .  .  All  collected  together,  and  a  few  ladies 
and  gentlemen  for  whom  I  answered  questions  about 
Africa,  We  then  went  to  a  girls'  school ;  the  girls  sang 
very  nicely,  then  acted  a  little  play.     There  were  different 


33(^  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xvi. 

castes  in  all  the  schools,  and  quite  mixed.  After  this 
we  went  to  College,  where  young  men  are  preparing 
for  degrees  of  the  University  under  Dr.  Haug  and  Mr. 
Wordsworth  ;  then  to  the  Roman  Catholic  Orphanage, 
where  200  girls  are  assembled,  clothed,  and  fed  under  a 
French  Lady  Superior — dormitory  clean  and  well  au^ed, 
but  many  had  scrofulous-looking  sore  eyes ;  then  home 
to  meet  some  friends  whom  Lady  Frere  had  invited,  to 
save  me  the  trouble  of  calling  on  them.  Saw  Mr. 
Cowan's  daughter." 

"■  1\st  Junel'^^i. —  ,  .  .  Had  a  conversation  with  the 
Governor  after  breakfast  about  the  slaving  going  on 
towards  the  Persian  Gulf  His  idea  is  that  they  are  now 
only  begimiing  to  put  a  stop  to  slavery — they  did  not 
know  of  it  previously.  .  .  .  The  merchants  of  Bombay 
have  got  the  whole  of  the  trade  of  East  Africa  thrown  on 
their  hands,  and  would,  it  is  thought,  engage  in  an  effort 
to  establish  commerce  on  the  coast.  The  joresent  Sultan 
is,  for  an  Arab,  likely  to  do  a  good  deal.  ,  He  asked  if  I 
would  undertake  to  be  consul  at  a  settlement,  but  I 
think  I  have  not  experience  enough  for  a  jDOsition  of  that 
kind  among  Europeans." 

On  returning  to  Bombay,  he  saw  the  missionary- 
institutions  of  the  Scotch  Established  and  Free  Churches, 
and  arranged  with  Dr.  Wilson  of  the  latter  mission  to 
take  his  two  boys,  Chuma  and  Wikatani.  He  arranged 
also  that  the  "  Lady  Nyassa,"  which  he  had  not  yet  sold, 
should  be  taken  care  of,  and  borrowing  £133,  10s.  for  the 
passage-money  of  himself  and  John  Beid,  one  of  his  men, 
embarked  for  old  England. 

At  Aden  considerable  rain  had  fallen  lately ;  he 
observed  that  there  was  much  more  vegetation  than  when 
he  w^as  there  before,  and  it  occurred  to  him  that  at  the 
time  of  the  Exodus  the  same  effects  probably  followed 
the  storms  of  rain,  lightning,  and  hail  in  Egypt.  Egypt 
was  very  far  from  green,  so  that  Dr.  Stanley  must  have 


1864.]  BOMBAY  TO  ENGLAND.  337 

visited  it  at  another  part  of  the  year.  At  Alexandria, 
when  he  went  on  board  the  "  Ilipon,"  he  found  the 
Maharaja  Dhuleep  Singh  and  his  young  Princess — the 
girl  he  had  fancied  and  married  from  an  English  Egyp- 
tian school.  Paris  is  reached  on  the  21st  July;  a  day 
is  spent  in  resting  ;  and  on  the  evening  of  the  23d  he 
reaches  Charing  Cross,  and  is  regaled  with  what,  after 
nearly  eight  years'  absence,  must  have  been  true  music — 
the  roar  of  the  mighty  Babylon. 

The  desponding  views  of  his  work  which  we  find  in 
such  entries  in  his  Journal  as  that  of  20th  May  must  not 
be  held  to  express  his  deliberate  mind.  It  must  not  be 
thought  that  he  had  thrown  aside  the  motto  which  had 
helped  him  as  much  as  it  had  helped  his  royal  country- 
man, liobert  Bruce — ''  Try  again."  He  had  still  some 
arrows  in  his  quiver.  And  his  short  visit  to  Bombay  was 
a  source  of  considerable  encouragement.  Tlie  merchants 
there,  who  had  the  East  African  trade  in  their  hands, 
encouraged  him  to  hope  that  a  settlement  for  honest 
traffic  might  be  established  to  the  north  of  the  region 
over  which  the  Portuguese  claimed  authority.  As 
Livingstone  moved  homewards  he  was  revolving  two  t-^ 
projects.  The  first  was  to  expose  the  atrocious  slave- 
trading  of  the  Portuguese,  which  had  not  only  made  all 
his  labour  fruitless,  but  had  used  his  very  discoveries  as 
channels  for  spreading  fresh  misery  over  Africa.  The 
thought  warmed  his  blood,  and  he  felt  like  a  Highlander 
with  his  hand  on  his  claymore.  The  second  project  was 
to  find  means  for  a  new  settlement  at  the  head  of  the 
Ilovuma,  or  somewhere  else  beyond  the  Portuguese  lines, 
which  he  would  return  in  the  end  of  the  year  to  establish. 
Writing  a  short  book  might  help  to  accomplish  both 
these  projects.  As  yet,  the  idea  of  finding  the  sources  of  / 
the  Nile  was  not  in  his  mind.  It  was  at  the  earnest 
request  of  others  that  he  undertook  the  work  that  cost 
him  so  many  years  of  suffering,  and  at  last  his  life. 

y 


338  1>A  VID  LIVINGSTONE,  [chap,  xv  n. 


CHAPTEPv  XYII. 

SECOND    VISIT    HOME^ 
A.D.  1864-65. 

Dr.  Livingstone  and  Sir  R.  Murchison — At  Lady  Palmerston's  reception — at  other 
places  in  London — Sad  news  of  his  son  Hobert — His  early  death — Dr. 
Livingstone  goes  to  Scotland — Pays  visits — Considtation  with  Professor  Syme 
as  to  operation — Visit  to  Duke  of  Argyll — to  Ulva — He  meets  Dr.  Duff — 
At  launch  of  a  Turkish  fi'igate — At  Hamilton — Goes  to  Bath  to  British 
Association — Delivers  an  address — Dr.  Colenso — At  funeral  of  Captain  Speke 
— Bath  speech  offends  the  Portuguese — Charges  of  Lacerda — He  visits  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Webb  at  Newstead — Their  gi"eat  hospitality — The  Livingstone  room 
— He  spends  eight  months  there  writing  his  book — He  regains  elasticity  and 
playfulness — His  book — Charles  Livingstone's  share — He  iises  his  influence 
for  Dr.  Kirk — Delivers  a  lecture  at  Mansfield — Proposal  made  to  him  by  Sir 
P.  Murchison  to  return  to  Africa — Letter  from  Sir  Koderick — His  reply— He 
will  not  cease  to  be  a  missionary — Letter  to  Mr.  James  Young — Overtiires 
from  Foreign  Office — Livingstone  displeased — At  dinner  of  Poyal  Academy — 
His  speech  not  reported — President  Lincoln's  assassination— Examination  by 
Committee  of  House  of  Commons — His  opinion  on  the  capacity  of  the  negro — 
He  goes  down  to  Scotland  —7'o//i  Brown's  School  Days — His  mother  very 
ill — She  rallies — He  goes  to  Oxford — Hears  of  his  mother's  death — Returns — • 
He  attends  examination  of  OsMell's  school — His  speech — Goes  to  London, 
preparing  to  leave — Parts  from  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Webb — Stays  with  Dr.  and  Mrs. 
Hamilton — Last  days  in  England. 

On  reaching  London,  Dr.  Livingstone  took  up  his  quarters 
at  the  Tavistock  Hotel ;  bnt  he  had  hardly  swallowed 
dinner,  when  he  was  off  to  call  on  Sir  Hoderick  and  Lady 
Murchison. 

"  Sir  Koderick  took  me  off  with  him,  just  as  I  was, 
to  Lady  Palmerston's  reception.  ]\Iy  lady  very  gracious — 
gave  me  tea  herself.  Lord  Palmerston  looking  well. 
Had  two  conversations  with  him  about  slave-trade.      Sir 


1864-65.]  SECOND   VISIT  HOME. 


119 


Eoclerick  says  that  he  is  more  intent  on  maintaining-  his 
poHcy  on  that  than  on  any  other  thing.  And  so  is  she 
— a  wonderfully  fine,  matronly  lady.  Her  daughters  are 
grown  up.  Lady  Shaftesbury  like  her  mother  in  beauty 
and  grace.  Saw  and  spoke  to  Sir  Charles  Wood  about 
India,  '  his  Eastern  Empire '  as  he  laughingly  called  it. 
Spoke  to  Duke  and  Duchess  of  Somerset.  All  say  very 
polite  things,  and  all  wonderfully  considerate." 

An  invitation  to  dine  with  Lord  Palmerston  on  the 
29  th  detained  him  for  a  few  days  from  going  down  to 
Scotland. 

''Monday,  25fJi  Juhj. — Went  to  Foreign  Office.  .  .  . 
Got  a  dress  suit  at  Nicol  and  Co.'s,  and  dined  with  Lord 
and  Lady  Dunmore.  Very  clever  and  intelligent  man, 
and  lady  very  sprightly.  Thence  to  Duchess  of  Welling- 
ton's reception.  A  grand  company — magnificent  rooms. 
Met  Lord  and  Lady  Colchester,  Mrs.  F.  Peel,  Lady 
Emily  Peel,  Lady  de  Ptedcliffe,  Lord  Broughton,  Lord 
Houghton,  and  many  more  whose  names  escaped  me. 
Ladies  wonderfully  beautiful — rich  and  rare  were  the 
gems  they  wore. 

"  2(jth  July. — Go  to  Wimbledon  with  Mr.  Murray,  and 
see  Sir  Bartle  Frere's  children.  .  .  .  See  Lord  Kussell — 
his  manner  is  very  cold,  as  all  the  Russells  are.  Saw  Mr. 
Layard  too  ;  he  is  warm  and  frank.  Received  an  invita- 
tion from  the  Lord  Mayor  to  dine  with  Her  Majesty's 
Ministers. 

"  27th  July. — Hear  the  sad  news  that  Tlobert  is  in  the 
American  army.  .  .  .  \Vent  to  Lord  Mayor  Lawrence's 
to  dinner.   .  .   ." 

With  reference  to  the  "sad  news"  of  Kobert,  which 
made  his  father  very  heavy-hearted  during  the  first  part 
of  his  visit  home,  it  is  right  to  state  a  few  particulars,  as 
the  painful  subject  found  its  way  into  print,  and  was 
not  always  recorded  accurately.  E-obert  had  some  pro- 
mising qualities,  and  those    who   knew   and  understood 


340  DA  VID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xvii. 

him  had  good  hopes  of  his  turning  o\it  well.  Bnt  he  was 
extremely  restless,  as  if,  to  use  Livingstone's  phrase,  he 
liad  got  "  a  deal  of  the  vagabond  nature  from  his  father ;" 
and  school-life  was  very  irksome  to  him.  With  the  view 
of  joining  his  father,  he  was  sent  to  Natal,  but  he  found 
no  opportunity  of  getting  thence  to  the  Zambesi.  Leav- 
ing Natal,  he  found  his  way  to  America,  and  at  Boston 
he  enlisted  in  the  Federal  army.  The  service  was  as  hot 
as  could  be.  In  one  battle,  two  men  were  killed  close  to 
him  by  shrapnel  shell,  a  rifle  bullet  jDassed  close  to  his 
head,  and  killed  a  man  beliind  him ;  other  two  were 
wounded  close  by  him.  His  letters  to  his  sister  expressed 
his  regret  at  the  course  of  his  life,  and  confessed  that  his 
troubles  were  due  to  his  disobedience.  So  far  was  he 
from  desiring  to  trade  on  his  father's  name,  that  in  en- 
listmg  he  assumed  another,  nor  did  any  one  in  the  army 
know  vrhose  son  it  was  that  was  fighting  for  the  freedom 
of  the  slave.  Meeting^  the  risks  of  battle  with  daunt- 
less  courage,  he  purposely  abstained,  even  in  the  heat 
of  a  charge,  from  destroying  life.  Not  long  after,  Dr. 
Livinofstone  learned  that  in  one  of  his  battles  he  was 
wounded  and  taken  prisoner ;  then  came  a  letter  from  a 
hospital,  in  wliich  he  again  expressed  his  intense  desire 
to  travel.  But  his  career  had  come  to  its  close.  He 
died  in  his  nineteenth  year.  His  body  lies  in  the  great 
national  cemetery  of  Gettysburg,  in  Pennsylvania,  in 
opening  which  Lincoln  uttered  one  of  those  speeches 
that  made  his  name  dear  to  Livino-stone.  Whatever 
degree  of  comfort  or  hope  his  father  might  derive  from 
Robert's  last  letters,  he  felt  saddened  by  his  unsatis- 
factory career.  Writing  to  his  friend  Moore  (5tli 
August)  he  says  :  "I  hope  your  eldest  son  will  do  well 
in  the  distant  land  to  which  he  has  gone.  My  son  is  in 
the  Federal  army  in  America,  and  no  comfort.  The  secret 
ballast  is  often  applied  by  a  kind  hand  above,  when  to  out- 
siders we  appear  to  be  sailing  gloriously  with  the  wind." 


1864-65.]  SECOND   VISIT  HOME.  341 

"  2^th /uhi. — Called  on  Mr.  Gladstone;  he  was  very  affable  — 
spoke  about  the  Mission,  and  asked  if  I  had  told  Lord  Russell  about 
it.  .  .  .  Visited  Lady  Franklin  and  Miss  Cracroft,  her  niece.  .  .  . 
Dined  with  Lord  and  Lady  Palmerston,  Lady  Shaftesbury,  and  Lady 
Victoria  Ashley,  the  Portuguese  Minister,  Count  d'Azeglio  (Sardinian 
Minister),  ]\Ir.  Calcraft — a  very  agreeable  party.  Mr.  Calcraft  and  I 
walked  home  after  retiring.  He  is  cousin  to  Colonel  Steele;  the 
colonel  has  gone  abroad  with  his  daughter,  who  is  delicate." 

"Saturday,  ^\st  July  1864. — Came  down  by  the  morning  train  to 
Hai^burn,  and  met  my  old  friend  Mr.  Young,  who  took  me  to  Lime- 
field,  and  introduced  me  to  a  nice  ftimily." 

Dr.  Livingstone's  relation  to  Mr.  Young's  family  was 
very  close  and  cordial.  Hardly  one  of  the  many  notes 
and  letters  he  wrote  to  his  friend  fails  to  send  greetings 
to  "  Ma-James,"  as  he  liked  to  call  Mrs.  Young,  after  the 
African  fashion.  It  is  not  only  the  playful  ease  of  his 
letters  that  shows  how  much  he  felt  at  home  with  Mr. 
Young, — the  same  thing  appears  from  the  frequency  with 
which  he  sought  his  counsel  in  matters  of  business,  and 
the  value  which  he  set  upon  it. 

"Sunday,  1st  August. — "Went  to  the  U.P.  church,  and  heard  ex- 
cellent sermons.  Was  colder  this  time  than  on  my  former  visit  to 
Scotland. 

"  2d  August. — Peached  Hamilton.  Mother  did  not  know  me  at 
first.  Anna  JMary,  a  nice  sprightly  child,  told  me  that  she  preferred 
Garibaldi  buttons  on  her  dress,  as  I  walked  down  to  Dr.  Loudon  to 
thank  him  for  kindness  to  my  mother. 

"  od  August. — Agnes,  Oswell,  and  Thomas  came.  I  did  not 
recognise  Tom,  he  has  grown  so  much.  Has  been  poorly  a  long  while  ; 
congestion  of  the  kidney,  it  is  said.  Agnes  quite  tall,  and  Anna  Mary 
a  nice  little  girl." 

The  next  few  days  were  spent  with  his  family,  and  in 
visits  to  the  neighbourhood.  He  had  a  consultation  with 
Professor  Syme  as  to  a  surgical  operation  recommended 
for  an  ailment  that  had  troubled  him  ever  since  his  first 
great  journey ;  he  was  strongly  urged  to  have  the  opera- 
tion performed,  and  probably  it  would  have  been  better 
if  he  had  ;  but  he  finally  declined,  partly  because  an  old 
medical  friend  was  against  it,  but  chiefly,  as  he  told  Sir 


342  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xvii. 

Roderick,  because  the  matter  would  get  into  the  news- 
pajDers,  and  he  did  not  like  the  public  to  be  speaking  of 
his  infirmities.  On  the  17th  he  went  to  Inveraray  to 
visit  the  Duke  of  Argyll,  He  was  greatly  pleased  with 
his  reception,  and  his  Journal  records  the  most  trifling 
details.  What  especially  charmed  him  was  the  con- 
siderate forethouofht  in  making-  him  feel  at  his  ease. 
"On  Monday  morning  I  had  the  honour  of  planting  two 
trees  beside  those  planted  by  Sir  John  Lawrence  and  the 
Marquis  of  Lansdowne,  and  by  the  Princess  of  Prussia 
and  the  Crown  Prince.  The  coach  came  at  twelve  o'clock, 
and  I  finished  the  most  delio-litful  visit  I  ever  made." 

Next  day  he  went  to  Oban,  and  the  day  after  by 
steamer  to  lona  and  Staffa,  and  thereafter  to  Aros,  in 
Mull.  Next  day  Captain  Greenhill  took  him  in  his  yacht 
to  Ulva. 

"In  1848  the  kelp  and  potatoes  failed,  and  the  pro- 
prietor, a  writer  from  Stirling,  reduced  the  population 
from  six  hundred  to  one  hundred.  None  of  my  family 
remain.  The  minister,  Mr.  Fraser,  had  made  inquiries 
gome  years  ago,  and  found  an  old  woman  who  remem- 
bered my  grandfather  living  at  Uamh,  or  the  Cave.  It 
is  a  sheltered  sjDot,  with  basaltic  rocks  jutting  out  of  the 
ground  below  the  cave ;  the  walls  of  the  house  remain, 
and  the  corn  and  potato  patches  are  green,  but  no  one 
lives  there.  ..." 

Peturning  to  Oban  on  the  24th  August,  "...  I 
then  came  by  the  Crinan  Canal,  and  at  Glasgow  end 
thereof  met  that  famous  missionary.  Dr.  Duff,  from  India. 
A  fine,  tall,  noble-looking  man,  w^ith  a  white  beard  and  a 
twitch  in  his  muscles  which  shows  that  the  Indian  climate 
has  done  its  work  on  him.   .   .   .  Home  to  Hamilton." 

The  Highlanders  everywhere  claimed  him ;  "  they 
cheered  me,"  he  writes  to  Sir  Po.derick,  "as  a  man  and  a 
brother." 

The  British   Association  was  to  meet  at  Bath  this 


1864-65.]  SECOND  VISIT  HOME.  343 

autumn,  and  Livingstone  was  to  give  a  lecture  on  Africa. 
It  was  a  dreadful  thought.  "  Worked  at  my  Bath  speech. 
A  cold  shiver  comes  over  me  when  I  think  of  it.  Ugh  !" 
Then  he  went  with  his  dausfhter  Apfnes  to  see  a  beautiful 
sight,  the  launching  of  a  Turkish  frigate  from  Mr.  Napier's 
yard — "8000  tons  weight  plunged  into  the  Clyde,  and 
sent  a  wave  of  its  dh-ty  water  over  to  the  other  side." 
The  Turkish  Ambassador,  Musurus  Pasha,  was  one  of  the 
party  at  Shandon,  and  he  and  Livingstone  travelled  in  the 
same  carriage.  At  one  of  the  stations  they  were  greatly 
cheered  by  the  Volunteers.  "  The  cheers  are  for  you," 
Livingstone  said  to  the  Ambassador,  with  a  smile.  "  No," 
said  the  Turk,  "I  am  only  what  my  master  made  me; 
you  are  what  you  made  yourself."  When  the  party 
reached  the  Queen's  Hotel,  a  working  man  rushed  across 
the  road,  seized  Livingstone's  hand,  saying,  "  I  must 
shake  your  hand,"  clapped  him  on  the  back,  and  rushed 
back  again.  "  You'll  not  deny,  now,"  said  the  Ambassador, 
"  that  that 's  for  you." 

Beturning  to  Hamilton,  he  notes,  on  4th  September : 
"  Church  in  the  forenoon  to  hear  a  stranger,  in  the  after- 
noon to  hear  Mr.  Buchan  give  an  excellent  sermon."  On 
5th,  6th,  7th,  he  is  at  the  speech.  On  8th  he  receives  a 
most  kind  invitation  from  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Webb  of  New- 
stead  Abbey,  to  make  their  house  his  home.  Mr.  Webb 
was  a  very  old  friend,  a  great  hunter,  who  had  seen  Liv- 
ingstone at  Kolobeng,  and  formed  an  attachment  to  him 
which  continued  as  warm  as  ever  to  the  last  day  of  Living- 
stone's life.  Livingstone  and  his  daughter  Agnes  reach 
Bath  on  the  15th,  and  become  the  guests  of  Dr.  and  Miss 
Watson,  of  both  of  whom  he  writes  in  the  highest  terms. 

"  On  Sunday,  heard  a  good  sermon  from  Mr.  Fleming. 
Bishop  Colenso  called  on  me.  He  was  very  much  cheered 
by  many  people  ;  it  is  evident  that  they  admire  his  pluck, 
and  consider  him  a  persecuted  man.  Went  to  the 
theatre  on  Monday,  19  th,  to  deliver  my  address.     When 


J44  ^A  VID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xvii. 

in  the  green-room,  a  loud  cheering  was  made  for  Bishop 
Colenso,  and  some  hisses.  It  was  a  pity  that  he  came  to 
the  British  Association,  as  it  looks  like  taking  sides.  Sir 
Charles  Lyell  cheered  and  clapped  his  hands  in  a  most 
vigorous  way.  Got  over  the  address  nicely.  People 
very  kind  and  indulgent — 2500  persons  present,  but  it  is 
a  place  easily  spoken  in." 

When  BishojD  Colenso  moved  the  vote  of  thanks  to 
Dr.  Livingstone  for  his  address,  occasion  was  taken  by 
some  narrow  and  not  very  scrupulous  journals  to  raise  a 
prejudice  against  him.  He  was  represented  as  sharing 
the  Bishop's  theological  views.  For  this  charge  there 
was  no  foundation,  and  the  preceding  extract  from  liis 
Journal  will  show  that  he  felt  the  Bishop's  presence  to  be 
somewhat  embarrassing.  Dr.  Livingstone  was  eminently 
capable  of  appreciating  Dr.  Colenso's  chivalrous  backing 
of  native  races  in  Africa,  while  he  differed  toto  ccelo  from 
his  theological  views.  In  an  entry  in  his  Journal  a 
few  days  later  he  refers  to  an  African  traveller  who  had 
got  a  high  reputation  without  deserving  it,  for  "  he  sank 
to  the  low  estate  of  the  natives,  and  rather  admired 
Essays  and  Re  views ^ 

The  next  passage  we  give  from  his  Journal  refers  to 
the  melancholy  end  of  another  brother- traveller,  of  whom 
he  always  spoke  with  respect : — 

"  23cZ  Sept. — Went  to  the  funeral  of  poor  Captain 
Speke,  who  when  out  shooting  on  the  15th,  the  day  I 
arrived  at  Bath,  was  killed  by  the  accidental  discharge  of 
his  gun.  It  was  a  sad  shock  to  me,  for,  having  corre- 
sponded with  him,  I  anticipated  the  pleasure  of  meeting 
him,  and  the  first  news  Dr.  Watson  gave  me  was  that  of 
his  death.  He  was  buried  at  Dowlish,  a  village  where 
his  family  have  a  vault.  Captain  Grant,  a  fine  fellow, 
put  a  wreath  or  immortelle  upon  the  coffin  as  it  passed 
us  in  church.  It  was  composed  of  mignonette  and  wild 
violets." 


1864-65-]  .  SECOND   VISIT  HOME.  345 

The  Bath  speech  gave  desperate  offence  to  the  Portu- 
guese. Livingstone  thought  it  a  good  sign,  wrote  play- 
fully to  Mr.  Webb  that  they  were  "  cussin'  and  swearin' 
dreadful,"  and  wondered  if  they  would  keep  their  senses 
when  the  book  came  out.  In  a  postscript  to  the  preface 
to  The  Zambesi  and  its  Trihutaries  he  says,  "  Senhor 
Lacerda  has  endeavoured  to  extinguish  the  facts 
adduced  by  me  at  Bath  by  a  series  of  papers  in  the 
Portuguese  official  journal ;  and  their  Minister  for  Foreign 
Affairs  has  since  devoted  some  of  the  funds  of  his 
Government  to  the  translation  and  circulation  of  Senhor 
Lacerda's  articles  in  the  form  of  an  English  tract."  He 
replies  to  the  allegations  of  the  pamphlet  on  the  main 
points.  But  he  was  too  magnanimous  to  make  allusion 
to  the  shameless  indecency  of  the  personal  charges  against 
himself  "  It  is  manifest,"  said  Lacerda,  "  without  the 
least  reason  to  doubt,  that  Dr.  Livingstone,  under  the 
pretext  of  propagating  the  Word  of  God  (this  being  the 
least  in  which  he  employed  himself)  and  the  advancement 
of  geographical  and  natural  science,  made  all  his  steps 
and  exertions  subservient  to  the  idea  of  .  .  .  eventually 
causing^  the  loss  to  Portuo^al  of  the  advantag-es  of  the  rich 
commerce  of  the  interior,  and  in  the  end,  when  a  favour- 
able occasion  arose,  that  of  the  very  territory  itself" 
Lacerda  then  quoted  the  bitter  letter  of  Mr.  Bowley  in 
illustration  of  Livingstone's  plans  and  methods,  and  urged 
remonstrance  as  a  duty  of  the  Portuguese  Government. 
"  Nor,"  he  continued,  "  ought  the  Government  of  Por- 
tugal to  stop  here.  It  ought,  as  we  have  said,  to  go 
further ;  because  from  what  his  countrymen  say  of 
Livingstone — and  to  which  he  only  answers  by  a  mere 
vain  negation, — from  what  he  unhesitatingly  declares  of 
himself  and  his  intentions,  and  from  what  must  be 
known  to  the  Government  by  private  information  from 
their  delegates,  it  is  obvious  that  such  men  as  Living- 
stone may  become  extremely  prejudicial  to  the  interests 


346  DA  VID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xvii. 

of  Portugal,  especially  when  resident  in  a  public  capacity 
in  our  African  possessions,  if  not  efficiently  watched,  if 
their  audacious  and  mischievous  actions  are  not  restrained. 
If  steps  are  not  taken  in  a  jDroper  and  effective  manner, 
so  that  they  may  be  permitted  only  to  do  good,  if 
indeed  good  can  come  from  such,"  etc. 

*'26//i  Sept. — Agnes  and  I  go  to-day  to  Newstead  Abbey,  Notts. 
Reach  it  about  9  P.M.,  and  find  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Webb  all  I  anticipated 
and  more.  A  splendid  old  mansion  "svitli  a  wonderful  number  of 
curiosities  in  it,  and  magnificent  scenery  around.  It  was  the  residence 
of  Lord  Byron,  and  his  furniture  is  kept "  [in  his  private  rooms]  "just  as 
he  left  it.  His  character  does  not  shine.  It  appears  to  have  been 
horrid.  .  .  .  He  made  a  drinking  cup  of  a  monk's  skull  found  under 
the  high  altar,  with  profane  verses  on  the  silver  setting,  and  kept  his 
Avine  in  the  stone  coffin.  These  Mrs.  Webb  buried,  and  all  the  bones 
she  could  find  that  had  been  desecrated  by  the  poet." 

In  a  letter  to  Sir  Thomas  Maclear  he  speaks  of  the 
poet  as  one  of  those  who,  like  many  others — some  of 
them  travellers  who  abused  missionaries, — considered  it  a 
fine  thing  to  be  thought  awfully  bad  fellows. 

"  27/A. — AVent  through  the  whole  house  with  our  kind  hosts,  and 
saw  all  the  Avonders,  Avhich  would  require  many  days  i^roperly  to 
examine.  .  .  . 

"  2(Z  October. — Took  Communion  in  the  chapel  of  the  Abbey.  God 
grant  me  to  be  and  always  to  act  as  a  true  Christian. 

"  3(i. — Mr.  and  Mrs.  Webb  kindness  itself  personified.  A  blessing 
be  on  them  and  their  children  from  the  Almighty !  " 

When  first  invited  to  reside  at  Newstead  Abbey,  Dr. 
Livingstone  declined,  on  the  ground  that  he  was  to  bo 
busy  writing  a  book,  and  that  he  wished  to  have  some  of 
his  children  with  him,  and  in  the  case  of  Agnes,  to  let 
her  have  music  lessons.  His  kind  friends,  however,  were 
resolved  that  these  reasons  should  not  stand  in  the  way. 
and  arrangements  were  made  by  them  accordingly.  Dr. 
Livingstone  continued  to  be  their  guest  for  eight  months, 
and  received  from  them  all  manner  of  assistance.  Some- 
thnes  Mr.  and  ]\Ii's.  Webb,  Mrs.  Goodlake  (Mrs.  Webb's 
mother),    and   his   daughter   Agnes  would   all   be   busy 


1864-65.]  SECOND   VISIT  HOME.  347 

copying  his  journals.  The  "  Livingstone  room,"  as  it  is 
called,  in  the  Sussex  tower,  is  likely  to  be  associated 
with  his  name  while  the  building  lasts.  It  was  his  habit 
to  rise  early  and  w8rk  at  his  book,  to  return  to  his  task 
after  breakfast  and  continue  till  luncheon,  and  in  the 
afternoon  have  a  long  walk  with  Mr.  Webb.  It  is  only 
when  the  book  is  approaching  its  close  that  we  find  him 
working  "till  two  in  the  morning."  One  of  his  chief 
recreations  was  in  the  field  of  natural  history,  watching 
experiments  with  the  spawning  of  trout.  He  endeared 
himself  to  all,  high  and  low ;  was  a  special  favourite  with 
the  children,  and  did  not  lose  opportunities  to  commend, 
in  the  way  he  thought  best,  those  high  views  of  life  and 
duty  which  had  been  so  signally  exemplified  in  his  own 
career.  The  playfulness  of  his  nature  found  full  and 
constant  scope  at  Newstead ;  he  regained  an  almost 
boyish  flow  of  animal  spirits,  revelled  in  fun  and  frolic  in 
his  short  notes  to  friends  like  Mr.  Young,  or  Mr.  Webb 
when  he  happened  to  be  absent ;  wrote  in  the  style  of 
Mr.  Punch,  and  called  his  opponents  by  ludicrous  names ; 
yet  never  forgot  the  stern  duty  that  loomed  before  him, 
or  allowed  the  enjoyment  and  abandon  of  the  moment  to  i- 
divert  him  from  the  death-struggle  on  behalf  of  Africa  in 
which  he  had  yet  to  engage. 

The  book  was  at  first  to  be  a  little  one, — a  blast  of 
the  trumpet  against  the  monstrous  slave-trade  of  the 
Portuguese ;  but  it  swelled  to  a  goodly  octavo,  and 
embraced  the  history  of  the  Zambesi  Expedition.  Charles 
Livingstone  had  written  a  full  diary,  and  in  order  that 
his  name  might  be  on  the  title-page,  and  he  might  have 
the  profits  of  the  American  edition,  his  journal  was  made 
use  of  in  the  writing  of  the  book ;  but  the  arrangement 
was  awkward ;  sometimes  Livingstone  forgot  the  under- 
standing of  joint-authorship,  and  he  found  that  he  could 
more  easily  have  written  the  whole  from  the  foundation. 
At  first  it  was  designed  that  the  book  should  appear 


348  DA  VID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xvii. 

early  in  the  summer  of  1865,  but  when  the  printing  was 
finished  the  map  was  not  ready ;  and  the  pubhcation 
had  to  be  delayed  till  the  usual  season  in  autumn. 

The  entries  in  his  Journal  are  brief  and  of  little 
general  interest  during  the  time  the  book  was  getting 
ready.  Most  of  them  have  reference  to  the  affairs  of 
other  peojDle.  As  he  finds  that  Dr.  Kirk  is  unable  to 
undertake  a  work  on  the  botany  and  natural  history  of 
the  Expedition,  unless  he  should  hold  some  permanent 
situation,  he  exerts  himself  to  procure  a  Government 
appointment  for  him,  recommending  him  strongly  to 
Sir  R,  Murchison  and  others,  and  is  particularly  grati- 
fied by  a  reply  to  his  application  from  the  Earl  of 
Dalhousie,  who  wrote  that  he  regarded  his  request  as  a 
command.  He  is  pleased  to  learn  that,  through  the 
kind  efforts  of  Sir  Koderick,  his  brother  Charles  has  been 
appointed  Consul  at  Fernando  Po.  He  sees  the  American 
minister,  who  promises  to  do  all  he  can  for  Robert,  but 
almost  immediately  after,  the  report  comes  that  poor  Robert 
has  died  in  a  hospital  in  Salisbury,  N.  Carolina.  He  de- 
livers a  lecture  at  the  Mechanics'  Institute  at  Mansfield,  but 
the  very  idea  of  a  speech  always  makes  him  ill,  and  in  this 
case  it  brings  on  an  attack  of  hsemorrhoids,  with  which  he 
had  not  been  troubled  for  long.  He  goes  to  London  to  a 
meeting  of  the  Geographical  Society,  and  hears  a  paper 
of  Burton's — a  gentleman  from  whose  geographical  views 
he  dissents,  as  he  does  from  his  views  on  subjects  more 
important.  In  regard  to  his  book  he  says  very  little ; 
four  days,  he  tells  us,  were  spent  in  writing  the  de- 
scription of  the  Victoria  Falls;  and  on  the  15th  April 
1865  he  summons  his  daughter  Agnes  to  take  his  pen 
and  write  finis  at  the  end  of  his  manuscript.  On 
leaving  Newstead  on  the  25th,  he  writes,  "  Parted  with 
our  good  friends  the  Webbs.  And  may  God  Almighty 
bless  and  reward  them  and  their  family  ! " 

Some  time  before  this,  a  proposal  was  made  to  him 


1864-65.]  SECOND   VISIT  HOME.  349 

by  Sir  Roderick  Murcliison  which  in  the  end  gave  a  new 
direction  to  the  remaining  part  of  his  Hfe.  It  was 
brought  before  him  in  the  following  letter  : — - 

"/««.  5,  1865. 

"My  dear  Livingstone, — As  to  your  future,  I  am  anxious  to 
know  what  your  own  wish  is  as  respects  a  renewal  of  African  explora- 
tion. 

"  Quite  irrespective  of  missionaries  or  political  affairs,  there  is  at 
this  moment  a  question  of  intense  geographical  interest  to  be  settled  : 
namely,  the  watershed,  or  waterslieds,  of  South  Africa. 

"  Now,  if  you  would  really  like  to  be  the  person  to  finish  off  your 
remarkable  career  by  completing  such  a  survey,  unshackled  by  other 
avocations  than  those  of  the  geographical  explorer,  I  should  be  de- 
lighted to  consult  my  friends  of  the  Societ}-,  and  take  the  best  steps  to 
promote  such  an  enterprise. 

"For  example,  you  might  take  your  little  steamer  to  the  Rovuma, 
and,  getting  up  by  Avater  as  far  as  possible  in  the  rainy  season,  then 
try  to  reach  the  south  end  of  the  Tanganyika.  Thither  you  might 
transport  a  light  boat,  or  build  one  there,  and  so  get  to  the  end  of  that 
sheet  of  water. 

"  Various  questions  might  be  decided  by  the  way,  and  if  you  could 
get  to  the  west,  and  come  out  on  that  coast,  or  should  be  able  to  reach 
the  White  Nile  (!),  you  would  bring  back  an  unrivalled  reputation,  and 
would  have  settled  all  the  great  disputes  now  pending. 

"  If  you  do  not  Yxke  to  undertake  the  j;»a7y  geographical  tvork,  I  am 
of  opinion  that  no  one,  after  yourself,  is  so  fitted  to  carry  it  out  as  Dr. 
Kirk.  I  know  that  he  thinks  of  settling  down  now  at  home.  But  if 
he. could  delay  this  home-settlement  for  a  couple  of  years,  he  would 
not  only  make  a  large  sum  of  money  by  his  book  of  travels,  but  would 
have  a  renown  that  Avould  give  him  an  excellent  introduction  as  a 
medical  man. 

"  I  have  heard  you  so  often  talk  of  the  enjoyment  you  feel  when  in 
Africa,  that  I  cannot  believe  you  now  think  of  anchoring  for  the  rest 
of  your  life  on  the  mud  and  sand  banks  of  England. 

"Let  me  know  your  mind  on  the  subject.  "When  is  the  book  to 
appear  ]     Kind  love  to  your  daughter, — Yours  sincerely, 

"ROD^^    I.    MURCHISON." 

Livingstone  begins  his  answer  by  assuring  Sir  Roderick 
that  he  never  contemplated  settling  down  quietly  in 
England ;  it  would  be  time  enough  for  that  when  he 
was  in  his  dotage.  "  I  should  like  the  exploration  you 
propose  very  much,  and  had  already  made  up  my  mind 
to  go  up  the  Rovuma,  pass  by  the  head  of  Lake  Nyassa, 


350  DA  VID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xvii. 

and  away  west  or  north-west  as  might  be  found  practic- 
able." He  would  have  been  at  this  ere  now,  but  his 
book  chained  him,  and  he  feared  that  he  could  not  take 
back  the  "  Lady  Nyassa "  to  Africa,  with  the  monsoon 
against  him,  so  that  he  must  get  a  boat  to  explore  the 
Kovuma. 

"  What  my  inclination  leads  me  to  prefer  is  to  have  intercourse 
"with  the  people,  and  do  what  I  can  by  talking,  to  enlighten  them  on  the 
slave-trade,  and  give  them  some  idea  of  our  religion.  It  may  not  be 
much  that  I  can  do,  but  I  feel  when  doing  that  I  am  not  living  in 
vain.  You  remember  that  when,  to  prevent  our  coming  to  a  stand- 
still, I  had  to  turn  skipper  myself,  the  task  was  endurable  only  because 
I  Avas  determined  that  no  fellow  should  prove  himself  indispensable  to 
oar  further  progress.  To  be  debarred  from  spending  most  of  my  time 
in  travelling,  in  exploration,  and  continual  intercourse  with  the  natives, 
I  always  felt  to  be  a  severe  privation,  and  if  I  can  get  a  few  hearty 
native  companions,  I  shall  enjoy  myself,  and  feel  that  I  am  doing  my 
duty.     As  soon  as  my  book  is  out,  I  shall  start." 

In  Livingstone's  Journal,  7th  January  18 Go,  we  find 
this  entry  :  "  Answered  Sir  Roderick  about  going  out. 
Said  I  could  only  feel  in  the  way  of  duty  by  working  as 
a  missionary."  The  answer  is  very  noteworthy  in  the 
view  of  what  has  so  often  been  said  against  Livingstone 
— that  he  dropt  the  missionary  to  become  an  explorer.  To 
understand  the  precise  bearing  of  the  proposal,  and  of 
Livingstone's  reply,  it  is  necessary  to  say  that  Sir  lloderick 
had  a  conviction,  which  he  never  concealed,  that  the 
missionary  enterprise  encumbered  and  impeded  the  geo- 
graphical. He  had  a  special  objection  to  an  Episcopal 
mission,  holding  that  the  planting  of  a  Bishop  and  staff  on 
territory  dominated  by  the  Portuguese,  was  an  additional 
irritant,  rousing  ecclesiastical  jealousy,  and  bringing  it  to 
the  aid  of  commercial  and  political  apprehensions  as  to 
the  tendency  of  the  English  enterprise.  Neither  mission 
nor  colony  could  succeed  in  the  present  state  of  the 
country  ;  they  could  only  be  a  trouble  to  the  geographical 
explorer.  On  this  point  Livingstone  held  his  own  views. 
He  could  only  feel  in  the  line  of  duty  as  a  missionary. 


1864-65. J  SECOND   VISIT  HOME.  351 

Whatever  he  might  or  might  not  be  able  to  do  in  that 
capacity,  he  would  never  abandon  it,  and,  in  particular, 
he  would  never  come  under  an  obligation  to  the  Geogra- 
phical Society  that  he  would  serve  them  "  unshackled  by 
other  avocations  than  those  of  the  geographical  explorer." 
A  letter  to  Mr.  James  Young  throws  light  on  the 
feelings  with  which  he  regarded  Sir  Roderick's  proposal : — 

"  20/A  January  1865. — I  am  not  sure  but  I  told  you  already  that 
Sir  Roderick  and  I  have  been  writing  about  going  out,  and  my  fears 
tliat  I  must  sell  *  Lady  Nyassa,'  because  the  monsoon  will  be  blow- 
ing from  Africa  to  India  before  I  get  out,  and  it  Avon't  do  for  me  to 
keep  her  idle.  I  must  go  down  to  the  Seychelles  Islands  (tak'  yer 
speks  and  keek  at,  the  map  or  gougrafy),  then  run  my  chance  to  get 
over  by  a  dhow  or  man-of-war  to  the  Rovuma,  going  up  that  river  in 
a  boat,  till  we  get  to  the  cataracts,  and  then  tramp.  I  must  take 
Belochees  from  India,  and  may  go  down  the  lake  to  get  IMakololo,  if 
the  Indians  don't  answer.  I  would  not  consent  to  go  simi)ly  as  a 
geographer,  but  as  a  missionary,  and  do  geography  by  the  way,  because 
I  feel  I  am  in  the  way  of  duty  when  trying  either  to  enlighten  these 
poor  people,  or  open  their  land  to  lawful  commerce." 

It  was  at  this  time  that  Mr.  Hay  ward,  Q.C.,  while  on 
a  visit  to  Newstead,  brought  an  informal  message  from 
Lord  Palmerston,  who  wished  to  know  what  he  could  do 
for  Livingstone.  Had  Livingstone  been  a  vain  man, 
wishing  a  handle  to  his  name,  or  had  he  even  been  bent  on 
getting  what  would  be  reasonable  in  the  way  of  salary 
for  himself,  or  of  allowance  for  his  children,  now  was 
his  chance  of  accomplishing  his  object.  But  so  single- 
hearted  was  he  in  his  philanthropy  that  such  thoughts 
did  not  so  much  as  enter  his  mind ;  there  was  one  thing, 
and  one  only,  which  he  wished  Lord  Palmerston  to 
secure — -free  access  to  the  highlands,  by  the  Zambesi 
and  Shire,  to  be  made  good  by  a  treaty  with  Portugal. 
It  is  satisfactory  to  record  that  the  Foreign  Office  has  at 
last  made  arranafements  to  this  effect. 

While  the  proposal  on  the  part  of  the  President  of 
the  Geographical  Society  was  undergoing  consideration, 
certain  overtures  were  made  to  Dr.  Livingstone  by  the 


352  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xvii. 

Foreign  Office.  On  the  11th  of  March  he  called  at 
the  office,  at  the  request  of  Mr.  Layard,  who  propounded 
a  scheme  that  he  should  have  a  commission  giving 
him  authority  over  the  chiefs,  from  the  Portuguese  boun- 
dary to  Abyssinia  and  Egypt ;  the  office  to  carry  no 
salary.  When  a  formal  proposal  to  this  effect  was  sub- 
mitted to  him,  with  the  additional  proviso  that  he  was 
to  be  entitled  to  no  pension,  he  could  not  conceal  his 
irritation.  For  himself  he  was  just  as  willing  as  ever  to 
work  as  before,  without  hope  of  earthly  recompence,  and 
to  depend  on  the  petition,  "  Give  us  this  day  our  daily 
bread  :  "  but  he  thouo-ht  it  ung-enerous  to  take  aclvantao^e 
of  his  well-known  interest  in  Africa  to  deprive  him  of  the 
honorarium  which  the  most  insignificant  servant  of  Her 
Majesty  enjoyed.  He  did  not  like  to  be  treated  like  a 
charwoman.  As  for  the  pension,  he  had  never  asked  it, 
and  counted  it  offensive  to  be  treated  as  if  he  had  shown 
a  greed  which  required  to  be  repressed.  It  came  out, 
subsequently,  that  the  letter  had  been  written  by  an 
underling,  but  when  Earl  Kussell  was  appealed  to,  he 
would  only  promise  a  salary  when  Dr.  Livingstone  should 
have  settled  somewhere !  The  whole  transaction  had  a 
very  ungracious  aspect. 

Before  publishing  his  book.  Dr.  Livingstone  had  asked 
Sir  Roderick  Murchison's  advice  as  to  the  wisdom  of 
speaking  his  mind  on  two  somewhat  delicate  points.  In 
reply,  Sir  Roderick  wrote  :  "  If  you  think  you  have  been 
too  hard  as  to  the  Bishop  or  the  Portuguese,  you  can 
modify  the  phrases.  But  I  think  that  the  truth  ought  to 
be  known,  if  only  in  vindication  of  your  own  conduct,  and  to 
account  for  the  little  success  attending  your  last  mission." 

We  continue  our  extracts  from  his  Journal : — 

"  26^/i  y^pv7  1865. — In  London.  Horrilied  by  news  of  President 
Lincoln's  assassination,  and  the  attempt  to  murder  Seward." 

"29//i  Ajml. — Went  down  to  Crystal  Palace,  with  Agnes,  to  a 
Saturday  Concert.  The  music  very  fine.  Met  Waller,  and  lost  a 
train.     Came  up  in  hot  haste  to  the  dinner  of  the  Royal  Academy. 


1864-65.]  SECOND   VISIT  HOME.  353 

...  Sir  Charles  Eastlake,  President ;  Archbishops  of  Canterbury  and 
York  on  each  side  of  the  chair ;  all  the  Ministers  present,  except  Lord 
Palmerston,  who  is  ill  of  gout  in  the  hand.  Lord  Russell,  Lord  Gran- 
ville, and  Duke  of  Somerset,  sat  on  other  side  of  table  from  Sir  Henry 
Holland,  Sir  Roderick,  and  myself.  Lord  Clarendon  was  close  enough 
to  lean  back  and  clap  me  on  the  shoulder,  and  ask  me  when  I  was 
going  out.  Duke  of  Argyll,  Bishops  of  Oxford  and  London,  were 
Avithin  earshot ;  Sir  J.  Romilly,  the  Master  of  the  Rolls,  was  directly 
in  front,  on  the  other  side  of  our  table.  He  said  that  he  Avatched  all 
my  movements  with  great  interest.  .  .  .  Lord  Derby  made  a  good 
speech.  The  speeches  were  much  above  the  average.  I  was  not  told 
that  I  was  expected  to  speak  till  I  got  in,  and  this  prevented  my 
eating.  When  Lord  John  Manners  complimented  me  after  my  speech, 
I  mentioned  the  effect  the  anticijiation  had  on  me.  To  comfort  me  he 
said  that  the  late  Sir  Robert  Peel  never  enjoyed  a  dinner  in  these  cir- 
cumstances, but  sat  crumbling  up  his  bread  till  it  became  cj[uite  a  heap 
on  the  table.  .   .  .  My  speech  was  not  reported. 

"  '2d  May. — Met  Mr.  Ehvin,  formerly  editor  of  the  Quarterly.  He 
said  that  Forster,  one  of  our  first-class  writers,  had  told  him  that  the 
most  characteristic  speech  was  not  reported,  and  mentioned  the  heads 
— as,  the  slave-trade  being  of  the  same  nature  as  thuggee,  garrotting  ; 
the  tribute  I  paid  to  our  statesmen ;  and  the  way  that  Africans  have 
been  drawn,  pointing  to  a  picture  of  a  woman  spinning.  This  non- 
reporting  was  much  commented  on,  which  might,  if  I  needed  it,  prove  a 
solace  to  my  wounded  vanity.  But  I  did  not  feel  offended.  Everything 
good  for  me  will  be  given,  and  I  take  all  as  a  little  child  from  its  father. 

"  Heard  a  capital  sermon  from  Dr.  Hamilton  [Regent  Square 
Church],  on  President  Lincoln's  assassination.  'It  is  impossible  but 
that  offences  will  come,'  etc.  He  read  part  of  the  President's  address 
at  second  inauguration.  In  the  light  of  subsequent  events  it  is  grand. 
If  every  drop  of  blood  shed  by  the  lash  must  be  atoned  for  by  an 
equal  number  of  white  men's  vital  fluid, — righteous,  0  Lord,  are  Thy 
judgments  !  The  assassination  has  awakened  universal  sympathy  and 
indignation,  and  will  lead  to  more  cordiality  between  the  countries. 
The  Queen  has  written  an  autograph  letter  to  Mrs.  Lincoln,  and  Lords 
and  Commons  have  presented  addresses  to  Her  Majesty,  praying  her 
to  convey  their  sentiments  of  horror  at  the  fearful  crime. 

"18^/i  May  18G5. — Was  examined  by  the  Committee  [of  the 
House  of  Commons]  on  the  West  Coast ;  was  rather  nervous  and 
confused,  but  let  them  know  pretty  plainly  that  I  did  not  agree  with 
the  aspersions  cast  on  missions." 

In  a  letter  to  IVIr.  Webb,  he  writes  a  pr 02^03  of  this 
examination  : — 

"  The  monstrous  mistake  of  the  Burton  school  is  this :  they  ignore 
the  point-blank  fact  that  the  men  that  do  the  most  for  the  mean  whites 

Z 


354  J^A  VID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xvii. 

are  the  same  that  do  the  most  for  the  mean  blacks,  and  you  never 
hear  one  mother's  son  of  tliem  sa}^  You  do  wrong  to  give  to  the  whites. 
I  told  the  Committee  I  had  heard  people  say  that  Christianity  made 
the  blacks  worse,  but  did  not  agree  with  them.  I  might  have  said  it 
was  '  rot,'  and  truly.  I  can  stand  a  good  deal  of  bosh,  but  to  tell  me 
that  Christianity  makes  people  w^orse — ugh !  Tell  that  to  the  young 
trouts.  Ycu  know  on  Avhat  side  I  am,  and  I  shall  stand  to  my  side,  Old 
Pam  fixshion,  through  thick  and  thin.  I  don't  agree  with  all  my  side 
say  and  do.  I  won't  justify  many  things,  but  for  the  great  cau.se  of 
human  progress  I  am  heart  and  soul,  and  so  are  you." 

Dr.  Tiivinofstone  was  asked  at  this  time  to  attend  a 

a 

public  meeting  on  behalf  of  American  freedmen.  It  was 
not  in  his  power  to  go,  but,  in  apologising,  he  was  at 
pains  to  express  his  opinion  on  the  capacity  of  the  negro, 
in  connection  with  what  was  going  on  in  the  United 
States : — 

"  Our  kinsmen  across  the  Atlantic  deserve  oar  warmest  sympathy. 
They  have  passed,  and  are  passing,  through  trials,  and  are  encompassed 
with  difficulties  which  completely  dwarf  those  of  our  Irish  famine,  and 
not  the  least  of  them  is  the  question,  what  to  do  with  those  freedmen 
for  whose  existence  as  slaves  in  America  our  own  forefathers  have  so 
much  to  answer.  The  introduction  of  a  degraded  race  from  a  barbarous 
country  Avas  a  gigantic  evil,  and  if  the  race  cannot  be  elevated,  an  evil 
beyond  remedy.  Millions  can  neither  be  amalgamated  nor  transported, 
and  the  presence  of  degradation  is  a  contagion  wdiich  propagates  itself 
among  the  more  civilised.  But  I  have  no  fears  as  to  tlie  mental  and 
moral  capacity  of  the  Africans  for  civilisation  and  upward  progress. 
We  who  suppose  ourselves  to  have  vaulted  at  one  bound  to  the  extreme 
of  civilisation,  and  smack  our  lips  so  loudly  over  our  high  elevation, 
may  find  it  difficult  to  realise  the  debasement  to  Avhich  slavery  has 
sunk  those  men,  or  to  appreciate  what,  in  the  discipline  of  the  sad 
school  of  bondage,  is  in  a  state  of  freedom  real  and  substantial  jirogress. 
But  I,  who  have  been  intimate  with  Africans  who  have  never  been 
defiled  by  the  slave-trade,  believe  them  to  be  capable  of  holding  an 
honourable  rank  in  the  family  of  man." 

Wherever  slavery  prevailed,  or  the  effects  of  slavery 
were  found,  Dr.  Livingstone's  testimony  against  it  was 
clear  and  emphatic.  Neither  personal  friendship  nor  any 
other  consideration  under  the  sun  could  repress  it.  When 
his  friends  Sir  Roderick  and  Mr.  Webb  afterwards  ex- 
pressed their  sympathy  with  Governor  Eyre  of  Jamaica, 


1S64-65.]  SECOND   VISIT  HOME.  355 

he  did  not  scruple  to  tell  them  how  different  an  estimate 
he  had  formed  of  the  Governor's  conduct. 

We  continue  our  extracts  from  his  Journal  and 
letters  : — 

"  24</i  May. — Came  down  to  Scotland  by  last  night's  train  ;  found 
mother  very  poorly ;  and,  being  now  eighty-two,  I  fear  she  may  not 
have  long  to  live  among  us." 

Tith  May  (to  Mr.  Webb). — "I  have  been  reading  Tom  Brown's 
School  Bays — a  capital  book.  Dr.  Arnold  was  a  man  worth  his  weight 
in  something  better  than  gold.  You  know  Oswell "  [his  early  friend] 
"  was  one  of  his  Rugby  boys.  One  could  see  his  training  in  always 
doing  what  was  brave,  and  true,  and  right." 

"  2(1  June. — Tom  better,  but  kept  back  in  his  education  by  his 
complaint.  Oswell  getting  on  well  at  school  at  Hamilton.  Anna 
Mary  well.  Mother  gradually  becoming  weaker.  Robert  we  shall 
never  hear  of  again  in  this  world,  I  fear ;  but  the  Lord  is  merciful,  and 
just,  and  right  in  all  His  ways.  He  would  hear  the  cry  for  mercy  in 
the  hospital  at  Salisbury.  I  have  lost  my  part  in  that  gigantic 
struggle  which  the  Highest  guided  to  a  consummation  never  contem- 
plated by  the  Southerners  when  they  began ;  and  many  others  have 
borne  more  numerous  losses. 

"  5th  June. — "Went  about  a  tombstone  to  my  dear  Mary.  Got  a 
good  one  of  cast-iron  to  be  sent  out  to  the  Cape. 

"  Mother  very  low.  .  .  .  Has  been  a  good  affectionate  mother  to  us 
all.  The  Lord  he  with  her.  .  .  .  "Whatever  is  good  for  me  and  mine 
the  Lord  will  give. 

"  To-morrow,  Communion  in  kirk.  The  Lord  strip  off  all  imper- 
fections, wash  away  all  guilt,  breathe  love  and  goodness  through  all 
my  nature,  and  make  His  image  shine  out  from  my  soul. 

"  Mother  continued  very  low,  and  her  mind  ran  on  poor  Robert. 
Thought  I  was  his  brother,  and  asked  me  frequently,  '  AVhere  is  your 
brother]  where  is  that  puir  laddie  ]\  .  .  Sisters  most  attentive.  .  .  . 
Contrary  to  expectation  she  revived,  and  I  went  to  Oxford.  The 
Vice-Chancellor  offered  me  the  theatre  to  lecture  in,  but  I  expected  a 
telegram  if  any  change  took  place  on  mother.  Gave  an  address  to  a 
number  of  friends  in  Dr.  Daubeny's  chemical  class-room." 

^^  Monday,  19th  June. — A  telegram  came,  saying  that  mother  had 
died  the  day  before.  I  started  at  once  for  Scotland.  No  change  was 
observed  till  within  an  hour  and  a  half  of  her  departure.  .  .  .  Seeing 
the  end  was  near,  sister  Agnes  said,  '  The  Saviour  has  com.e  for  you, 
mother.  You  can  "  lippen"  yourself  to  Him  V  She  rejilied  '  Oh  yes.' 
Little  Anna  Mary  was  held  up  to  her.  She  gave  her  the  last  look, 
and  said  '  Bonnie  wee  lassie,'  gave  a  few  long  inspirations,  and  all  was 
still,  with  a  look  of  reverence  on  her  countenance.  She  had  Avished 
AVilliam  Logan,  a  good  Christian  man,  to  lay  her  head  in  the  grave, 


356  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xvii. 

if  I  were  not  there.  AYhen  going  away  in  1858,  she  said  to  me  that 
slie  would  have  liked  one  of  her  laddies  to  lay  her  head  in  the  grave. 
It  so  hapiiened  that  I  was  there  to  pay  the  last  tribute  to  a  dear  good 
mother." 

The  last  tliino-  we  find  him  doino;  in  Scotland  is 
attending  the  examination  of  Oswell's  school,  with  Anna 
Mary,  and  seeing  him  receive  prizes.  Dr.  Loudon  of 
Hamilton,  the  medical  attendant  and  much-valued  friend  of 
the  Livingstones,  furnishes  us  with  a  reminiscence  of  this 
occasion.  He  had  great  difficulty  in  persuading  Living- 
stone to  so.  The  awful  bugrbear  was  that  he  would  be 
asked  to  make  a  speech.  Being  assured  that  it  would  be 
thought  strange  if,  in  a  gathering  of  the  children's  parents, 
he  were  absent,  he  agreed  to  go.  And  of  course  he  had 
to  speak.  What  he  said  was  pointed  and  practical,  and 
in  winding  up,  he  said  he  had  just  two  things  to  say  to 
them — "  Fear  God,  and  work  hard."  These  appear  to 
have  been  Livmgstone's  last  public  Avords  in  his  native 
Scotland. 

His  Journal  is  continued  in  London  : — 

"  8//t  August. — Went  to  Zoological  Gardens  with  Mr.  "Webb  and 
Dr.  Kirk;  then  to  lunch  with  Miss  Coutts"  [Baroness  Burdett  Coutts], 
"  Queen  Emma  of  Honolulu  is  to  be  there.  It  is  not  fair  for  High 
Church  people  to  ignore  the  labours  of  the  Americans,  for  [the  present 
state  of  Christianity]  is  the  fruit  of  their  labours,  and  not  of  the 
present  Bishop.  Dined  at  Lady  Franklin's  with  Queen  Emma ;  a  nice 
sensible  person  the  Queen  seems  to  be. 

"  'dth  Jugust. — Parted  Avith  my  friends  Mr.  and  Mrs.  AYebb  at 
Kin-^'s  Cross  station  to-day.  He  gracefully  said  that  he  Avished  I  had 
been  coming  rather  than  going  away,  and  she  shook  me  very  cordially 
Avith  both  hands,  and  said,  '  You  will  come  back  again  to  us,  won't 
you?'  and  shed  a  womanly  tear.  The  good  Lord  bless  and  save  them 
both,  and  have  mercy  on  their  whole  household ! 

"11th  August. — AYent  doAvn  to  say  good-bye  to  the  Duchess- 
Dowager  of  Sutherland,  at  Maidenhead.  Garibaldi's  rooms  are 
shown  :  a  good  man  he  was,  but  followed  by  a  crowd  of  harpies 
Avho  tried  to  use  him  for  their  own  purposes.  ...  He  was  so  utterly 
worn  out  by  shaking  hands,  that  a  detective  policeman  Avho  was 
Avith  him  in  the  carriage,  put  his  hand  under  his  cloak,  and  did  the 
ceremony  for  him. 


1864-65.]  SECOND   VISIT  HOME.  357 

"Took  leave  at  Foreign  Office.  Mr.  Layard  very  kind  in  his 
expressions  at  parting,  and  so  was  Mr.  Wjdde. 

"  \2th  August. — Went  down  to  "Wimbledon  to  dine  with  Mr.Murra)', 
and  take  leave.  Mr.  and  ]\Irs.  OsAvell  came  up  to  sny  farewell.  He 
offers  to  go  over  to  Paris  at  any  time  to  bring  Agnes"  [who  Avas  going 
to  school  there]  "home,  or  do  anything  that  a  father  would.  ["I  love 
him,"  Livingstone  writes  to  Mr.  Webb,  "Avith  true  affection,  and  I 
believe  he  does  the  same  to  me ;  and  yet  we  never  show  it."] 

"  We  have  been  with  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Hamilton  for  some  time — good, 
gracious  people.  The  Lord  bless  them  and  heir  household  !  Dr. 
Kirk  and  Mr.  Waller  go  down  to  Folkestone  to-morrow,  and  take 
leaA^e  of  us  there.  This  is  very  kind.  The  Lord  puts  it  into  their 
hearts  to  show  kindness,  and  blessed  be  His  name." 

Dr.  Livingstone's  last  weeks  in  England  were  passed 
under  the  roof  of  the  late  Rev.  Dr.  Hamilton,  author  of 
Life  in  Emmest,  and  could  hardly  have  been  passed  in  a 
more  congenial  home.  Natives  of  the  same  part  of 
Scotland,  nearly  of  an  age,  and  resembling  each  other 
much  in  taste  and  character,  the  two  men  drew  greatly 
to  each  other.  The  same  Puritan  faith  lay  at  the  basis 
of  their  religious  character,  with  all  its  stability  and 
firmness.  But  above  all,  they  had  put  on  charity,  which 
is  the  bond  of  perfectness.  In  Natural  History,  too,  they 
had  an  equal  enthusiasm.  In  Dr.  Hamilton,  Livingstone 
found  what  he  missed  in  many  orthodox  men.  On  the 
evening  of  his  last  Sunday,  he  was  prevailed  on  to  give 
an  address  in  Dr.  Hamilton's  church,  after  having  in  the 
morning  received  the  Communion  with  the  congregation. 
In  his  address  he  vindicated  his  character  as  a  missionary, 
and  declared  that  it  was  as  much  as  ever  his  great  object 
to  proclaim  the  love  of  Christ,  which  they  had  been  com- 
memorating that  day.  His  prayers  made  a  deep  impres- 
sion ;  they  were  like  the  communings  of  a  child  with  his 
father.  At  the  railway  station,  the  last  Scotch  hands 
grasped  by  him  were  those  of  Dr.  and  IVIrs.  Hamilton. 
The  news  of  Dr.  Hamilton's  death  was  received  by  Living- 
stone a  few  years  after,  in  the  heart  of  Africa,  with  no  small 
emotion.     Their  next  meeting  was  in  the  better  land. 

o 


358  DA  VID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap,  xviii. 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 

FKOM  ENGLAND  TO  BOMBAY  AND  ZANZIBAR. 
A.D.  18G5-1866. 

Object  of  new  journey — Double  scheme — He  goes  to  Paris  with  Agnes — Baron 
Hausmann — Anecdote  at  Marseilles — He  reaches  Bombay — Letter  to  Agnes — 
Keminiscences  of  Dr  Livingstone  at  Bombay  by  Rev.  D.  C.  Boyd — by 
Alex.  Brown,  Esq. — Livingstone's  dress — He  visits  the  caves  of  Kenhari — 
Rumours  of  murder  of  Baron  van  der  Deeken — He  delivers  a  lecture  at  Bombay 
— Gi'eat  success — He  sells  the  ' '  Lady  Nyassa  " — Letter  to  Mr.  Yomig — Letter 
to  Anna  Mary — Hears  that  Dr.  Kirk  has  got  an  appointment — Sets  oiit  for 
Zanzibar  in  "  Thule  " — Letter  to  Mr.  Young — His  experience  at  sea — Letter 
to  Agnes — He  reaches  Zanzibar — Calls  on  Sultan — Presents  the  "Thule"  to 
him  from  Bombay  Govenament — Monotony  of  Zanzibar  life — Leaves  in 
' '  Penguin  "  for  the  continent. 

The  object  for  which  Dr.  Livingstone  set  out  on  his 
third  and  last  great  African  journey  is  thus  stated  in 
the  preface  to  The  Zamhesi  and  its  Tributaries : — "  Our 
Government  have  supported  the  proposal  of  the  Royal 
Geographical  Society  made  by  my  friend  Sir  Roderick 
Murchison,  and  have  united  with  that  body  to  aid  me  in 
another  attempt  to  open  Africa  to  civihsing  influences, 
and  a  valued  private  friend  has  given  a  thousand  pounds 
for  the  same  object.  I  propose  to  go  mland,  north  of  the 
territory  which  the  Portuguese  in  Europe  claim,  and 
endeavour  to  commence  that  system  on  the  east  which 
has  been  so  eminently  successful  on  the  west  coast  :  a 
system  combining  the  repressive  efforts  of  Her  Majesty's 
cruisers  with  lawful  trade  and  Christian  missions — the 
moral  and  material  results  of  which  have  been  so  grati- 
fying.    I   hope   to    ascend  the  Rovuma,  or  some  other 


1865-66.]  FROM  ENGLAND  TO  ZANZIBAR.  359 

river  north  of  Cape  Delgado,  and,  in  addition  to  my 
other  work,  shall  strive,  by  passing  along  the  northern 
end  of  Lake  Nyassa,  and  round  the  southern  end  of  Lake 
Tanganyika,  to  ascertain  the  watershed  of  that  part  of 
Africa." 

The  first  part  of  the  scheme  was  his  own,  the  second 
he  had  been  urged  to  undertake  by  the  Geographical 
Society.  Tiie  sums  in  aid  contributed  by  Government 
and  the  Geographical  Society  were  only  £500  each  ;  but 
it  was  not  thought  that  the  work  would  occupy  a  long 
time.  The  Geographical  Society  coupled  their  contri- 
bution with  some  instructions  as  to  observations  and 
reports  which  seemed  to  Dr.  Livingstone  needlessly 
stringent,  and  which  certainly  ruffled  his  relation  to  the 
Society.  The  honorary  position  of  Consul  at  larg^  he  was 
willing  to  accept  for  the  sake  of  the  influence  which  it 
gave  him,  though  still  retaining  his  opinion  of  the  shab- 
biness  which  had  so  explicitly  bargained  that  he  was  to 
have  no  salary  and  to  expect  no  pension. 

The  truth  is,  if  Livingstone  had  not  been  the  most 
single-minded  and  trustful  of  men,  he  would  never  have 
returned  to  Africa  on  such  terms.  The  whole  sum  placed 
at  his  disposal  was  utterly  inadequate  to  defray  the  cost 
of  the  Expedition,  and  support  his  family  at  home.  Had 
it  not  been  for  promises  that  were  never  fulfilled,  he  would 
not  have  left  his  family  at  this  time  as  he  did.  But  in 
nothing  is  the  purity  of  his  character  seen  more  beautifully 
than  in  his  bearing  towards  some  of  those  who  had  gained 
not  a  little  consideration  by  their  connection  with  him, 
and  had  made  him  fair  promises,  but  left  him  to  work  on 
as  best  he  might.  No  trace  of  bitter  feeling  disturbed 
him,  or  abated  the  strength  of  his  love  and  confidence. 

Dr.  Livingstone  went  first  to  Paris  with  his  daughter, 
and  left  her  there  for  education.  Passing  on  he  reached 
Marseilles  on  the  19  th  August,  and  wrote  her  a  few 
lines,  in  which  he  informed  her  that  the  man  who  was 


36o  DA  VID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap,  xviii. 

now  transforming  Paris  [Baron  Hausmann]  was  a  Pro- 
testant, and  had  once  taught  a  Sunday-school  in  the 
south  of  France ;  and  that  probably  he  had  greater 
pleasure  in  the  first  than  in  the  second  work.  The 
remark  had  a  certain  applicability  to  his  own  case,  and 
probably  let  out  a  little  of  his  own  feehng  ;  it  showed  at 
least  his  estimate  of  the  relative  place  of  temporal  and 
spiritual  philanthropy.  The  prayer  that  followed  was 
expressive  of  his  deepest  feelings  towards  his  best- 
beloved  on  earth  :  "  May  the  Almighty  qualify  you  to  be  a 
blessing  to  those  around  you,  wherever  your  lot  is  cast. 
I  know  that  you  hate  all  that  is  mean  and  false.  May 
God  make  you  good,  and  to  delight  in  doing  good  to 
others.  If  you  ask  He  will  give  abundantly.  The  Lord 
bless  y(fu ! " 

From  a  Bombay  gentleman  who  v/as  his  fellow- 
traveller  to  India  a  little  anecdote  has  casually  come 
to  our  knowledge  illustrating  the  unobtrusiveness  of 
Livingstone — his  dislike  to  being  made  a  lion  of  At 
the  tablc-dliote  of  the  hotel  in  Marseilles,  where  some 
Bombay  merchants  were  sitting,  the  conversation  turned 
on  Africa  in  connection  with  ivory — an  extensive  article 
of  trade  in  Bombay.  One  friend  dropped  the  remark,  "  I 
wonder  where  that  old  chap  Livingstone  is  now."  To 
his  surprise  and  discomfiture,  a  voice  replied,  "  Here  he 
is."  They  were  fast  friends  all  through  the  voyage  that 
followed.  Little  of  much  interest  happened  during  that 
voyage.  Livingstone  \vrites  that  Palgrave  was  in  Cairo 
when  he  passed  through,  but  he  did  not  see  him.  Of 
Baker  he  could  hear  nothing.  Miss  Tinne,  the  Dutch  lady, 
of  whom  he  thought  highly  as  a  traveller,  had  not  been 
very  satisfactory  to  the  religious  part  of  the  English  com- 
munity at  Cairo.  Miss  Whately  was  going  home  for 
six  weeks,  but  was  to  be  back  to  her  Egyptian  Ragged 
School.  He  saw  the  end  of  the  Lesseps  canal,  about 
the  partial  opening  of  which  they  were  making  a  great 


I8G5-66.]         FROM  ENGLAND  TO  ZANZIBAR.  361 

noise.  Many  thought  it  would  succeed,  though  an 
Egyptian  Commodore  had  said  to  him,  "  It  is  homl^og." 
The  Red  Sea  was  fearfully  hot  and  steamy.  The  "  Lady 
Nyassa "  hung  like  a  millstone  round  his  neck,  and  he 
was  prepared  to  sell  her  for  whatever  she  might  bring. 
Bombay  was  reached  on  11th  September. 

TO  AGNES  LIVINGSTONE. 

^^  Bomhay,  20th  Sept.  1865. —  .  .  .  By  advice  of  the  Governor  I 
went  up  to  Nassick  to  see  if  the  Africans  there  under  Government 
instruction  Avoukl  suit  my  purpose  as  members  of  the  Expedition.  I 
was  present  at  the  examination  of  a  large  school  under  Mr.  Price  by 
the  Bishop  of  Bombay.  It  is  partly  supported  by  Government.  The 
pupils  (108)  are  not  exclusively  African,  but  all  showed  very  great 
proficiency.  They  excelled  in  music.  1  found  some  of  the  Africans 
to  have  come  from  parts  I  know — one  froiii  Ndonde  on  the  Rovuma 
— and  all  had  learned  some  handicraft,  besides  reading,  writing,  etc., 
and  it  is  probable  that  some  of  them  will  go  back  to  their  own 
country  with  me.  Eight  have  since  volunteered  to  go.  Besides  these 
I  am  to  get  some  men  from  the  '  Marine  Battalion,'  who  have  been 
accustomed  to  rough  it  in  various  ways,  and  their  pensions  will  be 
given  to  their  widows  if  they  should  die.  The  Governor  (Sir  Bartle 
Frere)  is  going  to  do  what  he  can  for  my  success. 

"  After  going  back  to  Bombay  I  came  up  to  near  Poonah,  and  am 
now  at  Government  House,  the  guest  of  the  Governor. 

"  Society  here  consists  mainly  of  officers  and  their  Avives.  .  .  . 
Miss  Frere,  in  the  absence  of  Lady  Frere,  does  the  honours  of  the 
establishment,  and  very  nicely  she  does  it.  She  is  veiy  clever,  and 
quite  unaffected — very  like  her  father.  .  .  . 

"  Christianity  is  gradually  diffusing  itself,  leavening  as  it  were  in 
various  ways  the  whole  mass.  When  a  man  becomes  a  professor  of 
Christianity,  he  is  at  present  cast  out,  abandoned  by  all  his  relations, 
even  by  wife  and  children.  This  state  of  things  makes  some  who 
don't  care  about  Christian  progress  say  that  all  Christian  servants  are 
useless.  They  are  degraded  by  their  own  countrymen,  and  despised 
by  others,  but  time  will  work  changes.  Mr.  Maine,  who  came  out 
here  with  us,  intends  to  introduce  a  law  whereby  a  convert  deserted  by 
his  wife  may  marry  again.  It  is  in  accordance  with  the  text  in 
Corinthians- — If  an  unbelieving  wife  depart,  let  her  depart.  People  will 
gradually  show  more  sympathy  with  the  poor  fellows  who  come  out  of 
heathenism,  and  discriminate  between  the  worthy  and  unworthy.  You 
should  read  Lady  Duff  Gordon's  Letters  from  Egypt.  They  show  a 
nice  sympathising  heart,  and  are  otherwise  very  interesting.  She  saw 
the  people  as  they  are.  Most  people  see  only  the  outsides  of  things. 
.  .  .  Avoid  all  nasty   French  novels.     They  are  very  injurious,  and 


362  DA  VJD  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap,  xviii. 

effect  a  lasting  injury  on  the  mind  and  heart.  I  go  up  to  Government 
House  again  three  days  hence,  and  am  to  deliver  two  lectures, — one  at 
Poonah,  and  one  at  Bombay." 

Some  slight  reminiscences  of  Livingstone  at  Bombay, 
derived  from  admiring  countrymen  of  his  own,  will  not 
be  out  of  place,  considering  that  the  three  or  four  months 
spent  there  was  the  last  period  of  his  life  passed  in  any 
part  of  the  dominions  of  Great  Britain. 

The  Bev.  Dugald  C.  Boyd  of  Bombay  (now  of  Portsoy, 
Banffshire),  an  intimate  friend  of  Dr.  Stewart  of  Lovedale, 
writing  to  a  correspondent  on  10th  October  18G5,  says  : — 

"  Yesterday  evening  I  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  Livingstone  at 
dinner  in  a  very  quiet  Avay.  ...  It  was  an  exceedingly  pleasant 
evening.  Dr.  Wilson  was  in  great  '  fig,'  and  Livingstone  was,  though 
quiet,  very  communicative,  and  greatly  disposed  to  talk  about  Africa. 
...  I  had  known  Mrs.  Livingstone,  and  I  had  known  Robert  and 
Agnes,  liis  son  and  daughter,  and  I  had  known  Stewart.  He  spoke 
very  kindly  of  Stewart,  and  seems  to  hope  that  he  may  yet  join  him  in 
Central  Africa.  .  .  .  He  is  much  stouter,  better  and  healthier-looking 
than  he  Avas  last  year.  .  .  . 

"12^A  October. — Livingstone  was  at  the  tamasha  yesterday.  He 
was  dressed  very  unlike  a  minister — more  like  a  post-captain  or 
admiral.  He  wore  a  blue  dress-coat,  trimmed  Avith  lace,  and  bearing 
a  Government  gilt  button.  In  his  hand  he  carried  a  cocked  hat.  At 
the  Communion  on  Sunday  (he  sat  ou  Dr.  Wilson's  right  hand,  Avho 
sat  on  my  right)  he  wore  a  blue  surtout,  Avith  Government  gilt  buttons, 
aud  shepherd-tartan  trousers;  and  he  had  a  gold  band  round  his  cap.^ 

^  Dr.  Livingstone's  habit  of  dressing  as  a  layman,  and  accepting  the  designation 
of  David  Livingstone,  Esquire,  as  readily  as  that  of  the  Eev.  Dr.  Livingstone, 
proljablj'  helped  to  propagate  the  idea  that  he  had  sunk  the  missionary  in  the 
explorer.  The  truth,  however,  is,  that  from  the  first  he  wished  to  be  a  lay  mis- 
sionary, not  under  any  Society,  and  it  Avas  only  at  the  instigation  of  his  friends 
tliat  he  accepted  ordination.  He  had  an  intense  dislike  of  what  was  merely  pro- 
fessional and  conventional,  and  he  thought  that  as  a  free-lance  he  would  have  more 
influence.  Whether  in  this  he  sufficiently  appreciated  the  position  and  office  of 
one  set  aside  by  the  Church  for  the  service  of  the  gospel  may  be  a  question  :  but 
there  can  be  no  question  that  he  had  the  same  view  of  the  matter  from  first  to  last. 
He  would  have  worn  a  blue  dress  and  gilt  ))uttons,  if  it  had  been  suitable,  as 
readily  as  any  other,  at  the  most  ardent  period  of  his  missionary  life.  His  heart 
M-as  as  truly  that  of  a  missionary  under  the  Consul's  dress  as  it  had  ever  been  when 
he  wore  black,  or  whatever  else  he  could  get,  in  the  wilds  of  Africa.  At  the  time 
of  his  encounter  with  the  lion  he  wore  a  coat  of  tartan,  and  he  thought  that  that 
material  might  have  had  some  effect  in  preventing  the  usual  irritating  results  of 
a  lion's  bite. 


1865-66.]  FROM  ENGLAND  TO  ZANZIBAR.  363 

I  spent  two  hours  in  liis  society  last  evening  at  Dr.  "Wilson's.  He  was 
not  very  complimentary  to  Burton.  He  is  to  lecture  in  public  this 
evening." 

Another  friend,  Mr.  Alexander  Brown,  now  of  Liver- 
pool, sends  a  brief  note  of  a  very  delightful  excursion 
given  by  him,  in  honour  of  Livingstone,  to  the  caves  of 
Kennery  or  Kenhari,  in  the  island  of  Salsette.  There 
was  a  pretty  large  party.  After  leaving  the  railway 
station,  they  rode  on  ponies  to  the  caves. 

"  We  spent  a  most  charming  day  in  the  caves,  and  the  Avild  jungle 
around  them.  Dr.  Wilson,  you  may  believe,  was  in  his  element, 
pouring  forth  volumes  of  Oriental  lore  in  connection  with  the  Buddhist 
faith  and  the  Kenhari  caves,  which  are  among  the  most  striking  and 
interesting  monuments  of  it  in  India.  They  are  of  great  extent,  and 
the  main  temple  is  in  good  preservation.  Doctor  Livingstone's 
almost  boyish  enjoyment  of  the  whole  thing  impressed  me  greatly. 
The  stern,  almost  impassive,  man  seemed  to  unbend,  and  enter  most 
thoroughly  into  the  spirit  of  a  day  in  Avhicli  pleasure  and  instruc- 
tion, under  circumstances  of  no  little  interest,  were  so  delightfully 
combined." 

At  Bombay,  he  heard  disquieting  tidings  of  the 
Hanoverian  traveller,  Baron  van  der  Decken.  In  his 
Journal  he  says  : — 

"29/^  December  1865. — The  expedition  of  the  Baron  van  der 
Decken  has  met  with  a  disaster  up  the  Juba.  He  had  gone  up  300 
miles,  and  met  only  with  the  loss  of  his  steam  launch.  He  then  ran 
his  steamer  on  two  rocks  and  made  two  large  holes  in  her  bottom. 
The  Baron  and  Dr.  Link  got  out  in  order  to  go  to  the  chief  to 
conciliate  him.  He  had  been  led  to  suspect  war.  Then  a  large 
party  came  and  attacked  them,  killing  the  artist  Trenn  and  the  chief 
engineer.  They  were  beaten  off,  and  Lieutenant  von  Schift  with  four 
survivors  left  in  the  boat,  and  in  four  days  came  down  the  stream. 
Thence  the}^  came  in  a  dhow  to  Zanzibar,  It  is  feared  that  the  Baron 
may  be  murdered,  but  possibly  not.  It  looks  ill  that  the  attack  was 
made  after  he  landed, 

"  My  times  are  in  Thy  hand,  0  Lord  !  Go  Thou  with  me  and  I  am 
safe.  And  above  all,  make  me  useful  in  jiromoting  Thy  cause  of  peace 
and  good-will  among  men." 

The  rumour  of  the  Baron's  death  was  subsequently 
confirmed.  His  mode  of  treating'  the  natives  was  the 
very  opposite  of  Livingstone's,  who  regarded  the  manner 


364  DA  VID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap,  xviii. 

of  his   death  as  another  proof  that  it  was  not  safe  to 
disregard  the  manhood  of  the  African  people. 

The  Bombay  lecture  was  a  great  success.  Dr. 
Wilson,  Free  Church  Missionary,  was  in  the  chair,  and 
after  the  lecture  tried  to  rouse  the  Bombay  merchants, 
and  especially  the  Scotch  ones,  to  help  the  enterprise. 
Eeferring  to  the  driblets  that  had  been  contributed  by 
Government  and  the  Geographical  Society,  he  proposed 
that  in  Bombay  they  should  raise  as  much  as  both.  In 
his  next  letter  to  his  daughter,  Livingstone  tells  of  the 
success  of  the  lecture,  of  the  subscription,  which  promised 
to  amount  to  £1000  (it  did  not  quite  do  so),  and  of  his 
wish  that  the  Bombay  merchants  should  use  the  money 
for  setting  up  a  trading  establishment  in  Africa.  "  I 
must  first  of  all  find  a  suitable  spot ;  then  send  back 
here  to  let  it  be  known.  I  shall  then  be  off  in  my 
work  for  the  Geographical  Society,  and  when  that  is 
done,  if  I  am  well,  I  shall  come  back  to  the  first  station." 
He  goes  on  to  speak  of  the  facilities  he  had  received 
for  transporting  Indian-  bufialoes  and  other  animals  to 
Africa,  and  of  the  extraordinary  kindness  and  interest 
of  Sir  Bartle  Frere,  and  the  pains  he  had  taken  to 
commend  him  to  the  good  graces  of  the  Sultan  of 
Zanzibar,  then  in  Bombay.  He  speaks  pleasantly  of 
his  sojourn  with  Dr.  Wilson  and  other  friends.  He  is 
particularly  pleased  with  the  management  and  menu  of  a 
house  kept  by  four  bachelors — and  then  he  adds  :  "  Your 
mamma  was  an  excellent  manager  of  the  house,  and  made 
everything  comfortable.  I  suppose  it  is  the  habit  ot 
attending  to  little  things  that  makes  such  a  difference  in 
different  houses.  As  I  am  to  be  away  from  all  luxury 
soon,  I  may  as  well  live  comfortably  with  the  bachelors 
while  I  can." 

To  Mr.  James  Young  he  writes  about  the  "Lady 
Nyassa,"  which  he  had  sold,  after  several  advertisements, 
but  only  for  £2300  :  "  The  whole  of  the  money  given  for 


1865-66.]  FROM  ENGLAND  TO  ZANZIBAR.  365 

lier  I  dedicated  to  the  great  object  for  which  she  was 
built.  I  am  satisfied  at  having  made  the  effort ;  would 
of  course  have  preferred  to  have  succeeded,  but  we  are 
not  responsible  for  results."  In  reference  to  the  invest- 
ment of  the  money,  it  Avas  intended  idtimately  to  be  sunk 
in  Government  or  railway  securities ;  but  meanwhile,  he 
had  been  recommended  to  invest  it  in  shares  of  an  Indian 
bank.  Most  unfortunately,  the  bank  failed  a  year  or  two 
afterwards ;  and  thus  the  whole  of  the  £6000,  which 
the  vessel  had  cost  Livingstone,  vanished  into  air. 

His  little  daughter  Anna  Mary  had  a  good  share  of 
his  attention  at  Bombay  : — 

"  24//t  December  1865.- — -I  went  last  night  to  take  tea  in  the  house 
of  a  Hindoo  gentleman  who  is  not  a  professed  Christian.  It  was  a 
creat  matter  for  such  to  eat  with  men  not  of  his  caste.  Most  Hindoos 
Avould  shrink  with  horror  from  contact  with  us.  Seven  little  girls 
Avere  j^resent,  belonging  to  two  Hindoo  families.  They  Avere  from  four 
or  five  to  eight  years  old.  They  Avere  very  pleasant-looking,  of  olive 
complexions.  Their  hair  was  tied  in  a  knot  behind,  Avith  a  Avreath  of 
floAvers  round  the  knot ;  they  had  large  gold  ear-rings  and  European 
dresses.  One  played  very  nicely  on  the  piano,  Avhile  the  rest  sang 
A'cry  nicely  a  funny  song,  which  shoAvs  the  native  AA'ay  of  thinking 
about  some  of  our  customs.  They  sang  some  nice  hymns,  and  repeated 
some  pieces,  as  the  '  Wreck  of  the  Hesperus,'  Avhich  was  given  at  the 
examination  of  Oswell's  school.  Then  all  sung,  'There  is  a  happy 
land,  far,  far  aAA'ay,'  and  it,  Avith  some  of  the  Christian  hymns,  was 
beautiful.  They  speak  English  perfectly,  but  A\'ith  a  little  foreign 
tAvang.  All  joined  in  a  metrical  prayer  before  retiring.  They  have 
been  taught  all  by  their  father,  and  it  Avas  A-ery  pleasant  to  see  that 
this  teaching  had  brought  out  their  natural  cheerfulness.  Native 
children  don't  look  lively,  but  these  Avere  brimful  of  fun.  One  not 
quite  as  tall  as  yourself  brought  a  child's  book  to  me,  and  Avith  great 
glee  pointed  out  myself  under  the  lion.  She  can  read  fluently,  as  I 
suppose  you  can  by  this  time  noAv.  I  said  that  I  Avould  like  a  little 
girl  like  her  to  go  Avith  me  to  Africa  to  sing  these  pretty  hymns  to  me 
there.  She  said  she  Avould  like  to  go,  but  should  not  like  to  have  a 
black  husband.  This  is  Christmas  season,  and  to-morrow  is  held  as 
the  day  in  Avhich  our  Lord  Avas  born,  an  event  Avhich  angels  made 
knoAvn  to  men,  and  it  brought  great  joy,  and  proclaimed  peace  on 
earth  and  good-will  to  men.  That  Saviour  must  be  your  friend,  and 
He  Avill  be  if  you  ask  Him  so  to  be.  He  Avill  forgive  and  save  you, 
and  take  you  into  His  family." 


366  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap,  xviii. 

On  New  Year's  Day  18G6  he  writes  in  liis  Journal: — 
"  The  Governor  told  me  that  he  had  much  pleasure  in 
giving  Dr.  Kirk  an  appointment  ;  he  would  telegraph  to 
hmi  to-day.  It  is  to  be  at  Zanzibar,  where  he  will  be  of 
great  use  in  promoting  all  good  works." 

It  had  been  arranged  that  Dr.  Livingstone  was  to 
cross  to  Zanzibar  in  the  "Thule,"  a  steamer  that  had 
formed  part  of  the  squadron  of  Captain  Sherard  Osborn 
in  China,  and  which  Livingstone  had  now  the  honour  of 
being  commissioned  to  present  to  the  Sultan  of  Zanzibar, 
as  a  present  from  Sir  Bartle  Frere,  and  the  Bombay 
Government, 

We  give  a  few  extracts  from  his  journal  at  sea  : — 

"  1 7//i  January. — Issued  flannel  to  all  the  boys  from  Nassick  ;  the 
marines  have  theirs  from  Government.  The  boys  sing  a  couple  of 
hymns  every  evening,  and  repeat  the  Lord's  Prayer.  I  mean  to  keep 
up  this,  and  make  this  a  Christian  expedition,  telling  a  little  about 
Christ  wherever  we  go.  His  love  in  coming  down  to  save  men  will 
be  our  theme.     I  dislike  very  much  to  make  my  religion  distasteful  to 

others.     This,  with 's  hypocritical  ostentation,  made  me  have  fewer 

religious  services  on  the  Zambesi  than  Avould  have  been  desirable,  per- 
haps. He  made  religion  itself  distasteful  by  excessive  ostentation.  .  .  . 
Good  works  gain  the  approbation  of  the  w^orld,  and  though  there  is 
antipathy  in  the  human  heart  to  the  gospel  of  Christ,  yet  when 
Christians  make  their  good  works  shine  all  admire  them.  It  is  when 
great  disparity  exists  between  profession  and  practice  that  we  secure 
the  scorn  of  mankind.  The  Lord  help  me  to  act  in  all  cases  in  this 
Expedition  as  a  Christian  ought ! 

"  TM  January. — My  second  book  has  been  reviewed  very  favour- 
ably by  the  Atlien<xum  and  the  Saturday  Bevieic,  and  by  many  new^s- 
papers.  Old  John  Crawford  gives  a  snarl  in  the  Examiner,  but  I  can 
afford  that  it  should  be  so.  4800  copies  were  sold  on  first  night  of 
Wr.  Murray's  sale.  It  is  rather  a  handsome  volume.  I  hope  it  may  do 
some  good." 

In  a  letter  to  Mr.  James  Young  he  writes  of  his 
voyage,  and  discharges  a  characteristic  spurt  of  humour 
at  a  mutual  Edmburgh  acquaintance  who  had  mistaken 
an  order  about  a  magic  lantern  :— 

'^  At  sea,  300  miles  from  Zanzibar,  26th  January  18G6. — We  have 
enjoyed  fair  weather  in  coming  across  the   weary  waste  of  Avaters. 


1 865-66.]  FROM  ENGLAND  TO  ZANZIBAR.  367 

We  started  on  the  5  th.  The  'Thule,'  to  be  a  pleasure  yaclit,  is  the 
most  incorrigible  roller  ever  known.  The  whole  2000  miles  has 
been  an  everlasting  see-saw,  shuggy-shoo,  and  enough  to  tire  the 
patience  of  even  a  chemist,  who  is  the  most  patient  of  all  animals.  I 
am  pretty  well  gifted  in  that  respect  myself,  though  I  say  it  that 

shouldn't  say  it,  but  that  Sandy  B !     The  world  will  never  get 

on  till  we  have  a  few  of  those  instrument-makers  hung.  I  was  par- 
ticular in  asking  him  to  get  me  Scripture  slides  coloured,  and  put  in 
with  the  magic  lantern,  and  he  has  not  put  in  one!  The  very  oljject 
for  which  I  wanted  it  is  thus  frustrated,  and  I  did  not  open  it  till  we 
were  at  sea.  0  Sandy  !  Pity  Burke  and  Hare  have  no  successors  in 
Auld  Eeekie !  .  .  . 

"  You  will  hear  that  I  have  the  prospect  of  Kirk  being  out  here. 
I  am  very  glad  of  it,  as  I  am  sure  his  services  will  be  found  invaluable 
on  the  east  coast." 

To  his  daughter  Agnes  he  writes,  d:  'proijos  of  tlie 
rolling  of  the  ship  : — 

"Most  of  the  marine-sepoys  were  sick.  You  would  have  been  a 
victim  unless  you  had  tried  the  new  remedy  of  a  bag  of  pounded  ice 
along  the  spine,  which  sounds  as  hopeful  as  the  old  cure  for  toothache  : 
take  a  mouthful  of  cold  water,  and  sit  on  the  fire  till  it  boils,  you 
will  suffer  no  more  from  toothache.  ...  .A  shark  took  a  bite  at  the 
revolving  vane  of  the  patent  log  to-day.  He  left  some  pieces  of  the 
enamel  of  his  teeth  in  the  brass,  and  probably  has  the  toothache. 
You  will  sympathise  with  him.  ...  If  you  ask  ]\Ir.  Murray  to  send, 
by  Mr.  Conyngham,  Buckland's  Curiosities  of  Natural  History,  and 
]\Ir.  Gladstone's  Address  to  the  Hdinhnrgh  Students,  it  will  save  me 
writing  to  him.  "When  you  return  home  you  will  be  scrutinised  to 
see  if  you  are  spoiled.  You  have  only  to  act  naturally  and  kindly  to 
all  your  old  friends  to  disarm  them  of  their  prejudices.  I  think  3'ou 
will  find  the  Youngs  true  friends.  Mrs.  Williamson  of  Widdicombe 
Hill  near  Bath  writes  to  me  that  she  would  like  to  show  you  her  plans 
for  the  benefit  of  poor  orphans.  If  you  thought  of  going  to  Bath  it 
might  be  Avell  to  get  all  the  insight  you  could  into  that  and  every 
other  good  Avork.  It  is  well  to  be  able  to  take  a  comprehensive  view 
of  all  benevolent  enterprises,  and  resolve  to  do  our  duty  in  life  in 
some  way  or  other,  for  we  cannot  live  for  ourselves  alone.  A  life  of 
selfishness  is  one  of  misery,  and  it  is  unlike  that  of  our  blessed  Saviour, 
who  pleased  not  Himself.  He  followed  not  His  own  will  even,  but 
the  Avill  of  His  Father  in  heaven.  I  have  read  Avith  much  pleasure  a 
book  called  Bose  Douglas.  It  is  the  life  of  a  minister's  daughter — with 
fictitious  names,  but  all  true.  She  was  near  Lanark,  and  came  through 
Hamilton.     You  had  better  read  it  if  you  come  in  contact  with  it." 

Referring  to  an  alarm,  arising  from  the  next  house 


368  DA  VID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap,  xviii. 

having  taken  fire,  of  which  she  had  written  him,  he  adds 
playfully  :— 

"  You  did  not  mention  what  you  considered  most  precious  on  the 
night  of  the  fire  ;  so  I  dreamed  that  I  saw  one  young  lady  hugging  a 
German  grammar  to  her  bosom ;  another  with  a  pair  of  curling 
tongs,  a  tooth-pick  and  a  pinafore ;  another  with  a  bunch  of  used-up 
postage  stamps  and  autographs  in  a  crinoline  turned  upside  down, 
and  a  fourth  lifted  up  Madame  Hocede  and  insisted  on  carrying  her 
as  her  most  precious  baggage.  Her  name,  Avhich  I  did  not  catch,  will 
go  down  to  posterity  alongside  of  the  ladies  who  each  carried  out  her 
husband  from  the  besieged  city,  and  took  care  never  to  let  him  hear, 
the  last  on't  afterwards.  I  am  so  penetrated  with  admiration  of  her 
that  I  enclose  the  wing  of  a  flying-fish  for  her.  It  lighted  among  us 
last  night,  while  we  were  at  dinner,  coming  right  through  the  sky- 
light. You  will  make  use  of  this  fact  in  the  Ui(jh-pjing  speech  Avhich 
you  will  deliver  to  her  in  French." 

Zanzibar  is  at  length  reached  on  the  28  th  January, 
after  a  voyage  of  twenty-three  days,  tedious  enough, 
though  but  half  the  length  of  the  cruise  in  the  "  Nyassa  " 
two  years  before.     To  Agnes  : — 

"  29//i  Jan. — We  went  to  call  to-day  on  the  Sultan.  His  Highness 
met  us  at  the  bottom  of  the  stair,  and  as  he  shook  hands  a  brass  band, 
Avhich  he  got  at  Bombay,  blared  forth  '  God  save  the  Queen  ! '  This 
was  excessively  ridiculous,  but  I  maintained  sufiicient  official  gravity. 
After  coff"ee  and  sherbet  we  came  away,  and  the  wretched  band  now 
struck  up  '  The  British  Grenadier,'  as  if  the  fact  of  my  being  only 
5  feet  8,  and  Brebner  about  2  inches  lower,  ought  not  to  have 
suggested  '  Wee  Willie  Winkie '  as  more  appropriate.  I  was  ready  to 
explode,  but  got  out  of  sight  before  giving  way." 

Dr.  Livingstone  brought  a  very  cordial  recommenda- 
tion to  the  Sultan  from  Sir  Bartle  Frere,  and  experienced 
much  kindness  at  his  hand.  Being  ill  with  toothache, 
the  Sultan  could  not  receive  the  gift  of  the  "  Thule  "  in 
person,  and  it  was  presented  through  his  commodore. 

Livingstone  was  detained  in  Zanzibar  nearly  two 
months  waiting  for  H.M.S.  "Penguin,"  which  was  to 
convey  him  to  the  mouth  of  the  Ptovuma.  Zanzibar  life 
was  very  monotonous — "It  is  the  old,  old  way  of  living 
— eating,  drinking,  sleeping;  sleeping,  drinking,  eating. 
Gettinir   fi^t :    slavinsf-dhows   comins^  and   slavinsf-dhows 


1865-66.]        FROM  ENGLAND  TO  ZANZIBAR.  369 

going  away ;  bad  smells ;  and  kindly  looks  from  English 
folks  to  each  other."  The  sight  of  slaves  in  the  Zanzibar 
market,  and  the  recognition  of  some  who  had  been  brought 
from  Nyassa,  did  not  enliven  his  visit,  though  it  un- 
doubtedly confirmed  his  purpose  and  quickened  his  efforts 
to  aim  another  blow  at  the  accursed  trade.  Always 
thinking  of  what  would  benefit  Africa,  he  writes  to  Sir 
Thomas  Maclear  urging  very  strongly  the  starting  of  a 
line  of  steamers  between  the  Cape,  Zanzibar,  and  Bombay  : 
"  It  would  be  a  most  profitable  one,  and  would  do  great 
good,  besides,  in  eating  out  the  trade  in  slaves." 

At  last  the  "  Penguin  "  came  for  him,  and  once  more, 
and  for  the  last  time,  Livmgstone  left  for  the  Dark  Con- 
tinent. 


370  DA  VID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xix. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

FROM  ZANZIBAR  TO  UJIJI. 

A.D.  1866-1869. 

Dr.  Livingstone  goes  to  mouth  of  Eoviima— His  prayer— His  company— His  herd 
of  animals — Loss  of  his  buffaloes — Good  spirits  when  setting  out — Difficulties 
at  Rovuma — Bad  conduct  of  Johanna  men — Dismissal  of  his  Sepoys — Fresh 
horrors  of  slave-trade — Uninhabited  tract — He  reaches  Lake  Nyassa — Letter 
to  his  son  Thomas — Disappointed  hopes — His  double  aim,  to  teach  natives 
and  rouse  horror  of  slave-trade — Tenor  of  religious  addresses — Wikatami 
remains  behind — Livingstone  finds  no  altogether  satisfactory  station  for  com- 
merce and  missions — Question  of  the  watershed — Was  it  worth  the  trouble? — 
Overruled  for  good  to  Africa — Opinion  of  Sir  Bartle  Frere — At  Marenga's — The 
Johanna  men  leave  in  a  body — Circulate  rumour  of  his  murder — Sir  Roderick 
disbelieves  it — Mr.  E.  D.  Young  sent  out  with  Search  Expedition — Finds 
proof  against  rumour — Livingstone  half-starved — Loss  of  his  goats — Review 
of  1866 — Reflections  on  Divine  Providence — Letter  to  Thomas— His  dog 
drowned — Loss  of  his  medicine-chest — He  feels  sentence  of  death  passed  on 
him — First  sight  of  Lake  Tanganyika — Detained  at  Chitimba's — Discovery  of 
Lake  INIoero — Occupations  during  detention  of  1867 — Great  pi-ivations  and 
difficulties — Illness — Rebellion  among  his  men — Discovery  of  Lake  Bangweolo 
— Its  oozy  banks — Detention — Suff'erings — He  makes  for  Ujiji — Very  severe 
illness  in  beginning  of  1809 — Reaches  Ujiji — Finds  his  goods  have  been 
wasted  and  stolen — Most  bitter  disappointment — His  medicines,  etc.,  at 
Unyanyembe — Letter  to  Sultan  of  Zanzibar — Letters  to  Dr.  Moffat  and  his 
daughter. 

On  the  19th  of  March,  fortified  by  a  firman  from  the 
Sultan  to  all  his  people,  and  praying  the  Most  High  to 
prosper  him,  "by  granting  him  influence  in  the  eyes  of 
the  heathen,  and  blessing  his  intercourse  with  them," 
Livingstone  left  Zanzibar  in  H. M.S.  "Penguin"  for  the 
mouth  of  the  Rovuma.  His  company  consisted  of 
thirteen  Sepoys,  ten  Johanna  men,  nine  Nassick  boys, 
two  Shupanga  men,  and  two  Waiyau.  Musa,  one  of  the 
Johanna  men,  had  been  a  sailor  in  the  "Lady  Nyassa;" 
Susi  and  Amoda,   the  Shupanga  men,   had  been  wood- 


1866-69.]  FROM  ZANZIBAR  TO  UJIJI.  371 

cutters  for  the  "Pioneer;"  and  the  two  Waiyau  lads, 
Wikatani  and  Chuma,  had  been  among  the  slaves  rescued 
in  18G1,  and  had  lived  for  some  time  at  the  mission  station 
at  Chibisa's.  Besides  these,  he  carried  with  him  a  sort  of 
menao-erie  in  a  dhow — six  camels,  three  buffaloes  and 
a  calf,  two  mules,  and  four  donkeys.  What  man  but 
Dr.  Livingstone  would  have  encumbered  himself  with 
such  baggage,  and  for  what  conceivable  purpose  except 
the  benefit  of  Africa  ?  The  tame  bufialoes  of  India  were 
taken  that  he  might  try  whether,  like  the  wild  buffaloes 
of  Africa,  they  would  resist  the  bite  of  the  tsetse-fly ; 
the  other  animals  for  the  same  purpose.  There  were 
two  words  of  which  Livingstone  might  have  said,  as 
Queen  Mary  said  of  Calais,  that  at  his  death  they  would 
be  found  engraven  on  his  heart — fever  and  tsetse;  the 
one  the  great  scourge  of  man,  the  other  of  beast,  in  South 
Africa.  To  help  to  counteract  two  such  foes  to  African 
civilisation  no  trouble  or  expense  would  have  been 
judged  too  great.  Already  he  had  lost  nine  of  his 
buflaloes  at  Zanzibar,  It  was  a  sad  pity  that  owing  to 
the  ill  treatment  of  the  remaining  animals  by  his  people, 
who  turned  out  a  poor  lot,  it  could  never  be  known  con- 
clusively whether  the  tsetse-bite  was  fatal  to  them  or  not. 
In  spite  of  all  he  had  suffered  in  Africa,  and  though 
he  was  without  the  company  of  a  single  European,  he 
had,  in  setting  out,  something  of  the  exhilarating  feeling 
of  a  young  traveller  starting  on  his  first  tour  in  Switzer- 
land, deepened  by  the  sense  of  nobility  which  there  is 
in  every  endeavour  to  do  good  to  others.  "  The  mere 
animal  pleasure  of  travelling  in  a  wild  unexplored  country 
is  very  great.  .  .  .  The  sweat  of  one's  brow  is  no 
longer  a  curse  when  one  works  for  God ;  it  proves  a  tonic 
to  the  system,  and  is  actually  a  blessing."  The  Kovuma 
was  found  to  have  changed  greatly  since  his  last  visit,  so 
that  he  had  to  land  his  goods  twenty-five  miles  to  the 
north  at  Mikindany  harbour,  and  find  his  way  down  to 


372  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xix. 

the  river  farther  up.  The  toil  was  fitted  to  wear  out  the 
strongest  of  his  men.  Nothing  could  have  been  more 
grateful  than  the  Sunday  rest.  Through  his  Nassick 
boys,  he  tried  to  teach  the  Makonde — a  tribe  that  bore  a 
very  bad  character,  but  failed  ;  however,  the  people  were 
wonderfully  civil,  and,  contrary  to  all  previous  usage, 
neither  inflicted  fines  nor  made  complaints,  though  the 
animals  had  done  some  damage  to  their  corn.  He  set 
this  down  as  an  answer  to  his  prayers  for  influence  among 
the  heathen. 

His  vexations,  however,  were  not  long  of  beginning. 
Both  the  Sepoy  marines  and  the  Nassick  boys  were 
extremely  troublesome,  and  treated  the  animals  abomin- 
ably. The  Johanna  men  were  thieves.  The  Sepoys 
l^ecame  so  intolerable  that  after  four  months'  trial  he 
sent  most  of  them  back  to  the  coast.  It  required  an 
effort  to  resist  the  effect  of  such  things,  owing  to  the 
tendency  of  the  mind  to  brood  over  the  ills  of  travel. 
The  natives  were  not  unkindly,  but  food  was  very  scarce. 
As  they  advanced,  the  horrors  of  the  slave-trade  pre- 
sented themselves  in  all  their  hideous  aspects.  Women 
were  found  dead,  tied  to  trees,  or  lying  in  the  path  shot 
and  stabbed,  their  fault  having  been  inability  to  keep  up 
with  the  party,  while  their  amiable  owners,  to  prevent 
them  from  becoming  the  j)roperty  of  any  one  else,  put  an 
end  to  their  lives.  In  some  instances  the  captives,  yet 
in  the  slave-sticks,  were  found  not  quite  dead.  Brutahty 
was  sometimes  seen  in  another  form,  as  when  some 
natives  laughed  at  a  poor  boy  suffering  from  a  very 
awkward  form  of  hernia,  whose  mother  was  trying  to 
bind  up  the  part.  The  slave-trade  utterly  demoralised 
the  people ;  the  Arabs  bought  whoever  Was  brought  to 
them,  and  the  great  extent  of  forest  in  the  country 
favoured  kidnapping ;  otherwise  the  people  were  honest. 
Farther  on  they  passed  through  an  immense  uninhabited 
tract,  that   had    once  evidently  had  a  vast   population. 


1866-69.]  FROM  ZANZIBAR  TO  UJIJI.  373 

Then,  in  the  Waiyau  country,  west  of  Mataka's,  came  a 
splendid  district  3400  feet  above  the  sea,  as  well  adapted 
for  a  settlement  as  Magomero,  but  it  had  taken  them 
four  months  to  get  at  it,  while  Magomero  was  reached  in 
three  weeks.  The  abandonment  of  that  mission  he  would 
never  cease  to  regret.  As  they  neared  Lake  Nyassa, 
slave  parties  became  more  common.  On  the  8th  August 
1866  they  reached  the  lake,  which  seemed  to  Livmgstone 
like  an  old  familiar  friend  which  he  never  expected  to  see 
again.  He  thanked  God,  bathed  again  in  the  delicious 
water,  and  felt  quite  exhilarated. 

Writing  to  his  son  Thomas,  28th  August,  he  says  : — 

"  The  Sepoys  were  morally  unfit  for  travel,  and  tlien  we  had  hard 
lines,  all  of  us.  Food  was  not  to  be  had  for  love  or  money.  Our 
finest  cloths  only  brought  miserable  morsels  of  the  common  grain. 
I  trudged  it  the  whole  way,  and  having  no  animal  food  save  what 
turtle-doves  and  guinea-fowls  we  occasionally  shot,  I  became  like  one 
of  Pharaoh's  lean  kiue.  The  last  tramp  [to  Nyassa]  brought  us  to  a 
land  of  plenty.  It  was  over  a  very  fine  country,  but  quite  depopulated. 
.  .  .  The  principal  chief,  named  Mataka,  lives  on  the  watershed  over- 
hanging this,  but  fifty  miles  or  more  distant  from  this ;  his  town  con- 
tained a  thousand  houses — many  of  them  square,  in  imitation  of  the 
Arabs.  Large  patches  of  English  peas  in  full  bearing  grew  in  the 
moist  hollows,  or  were  irrigated.  Cattle  showed  that  no  tsetse  existed. 
When  we  arrived,  Mataka  was  just  sending  back  a  number  of  cattle 
and  captives  to  their  own  homes.  They  had  been  taken  by  his  people 
without  his  knowledge  from  Nyassa.  I  saw  them  by  accident :  there 
were  fifty-four  women  and  children,  about  a  dozen  young  men  and 
boys,  and  about  twenty-five  or  thirty  head  of  cattle.  As  the  act  Avas 
spontaneous,  it  was  the  more  gratifying  to  witness.  .  .   . 

"  I  sometimes  remember  you  Avith  some  anxiety,  as  not  knowing 
what  opening  may  be  made  for  you  in  life,  ,  .  .  Whatever  you  feel 
yourself  best  fitted  for,  '  commit  thy  way  to  the  Lord,  trust  also  in 
Him,  and  He  will  bring  it  to  pass.'  One  ought  to  endeavour  to  devote 
the  peculiarities  of  his  nature  to  his  Redeemer's  service,  whatever 
these  may  be." 

Resting  at  the  lake,  and  working  up  journal,  lunars, 
and  altitudes,  he  hears  of  the  arrival  of  an  Englishman  at 
IMataka's,  with  cattle  for  him,  "  who  had  two  eyes  behind 
as  well  as  two  infront — news  enough  for  a  while, "  Zoology, 
Botany,  and  Geology  engage  his  attention  as  usual.     He 


374  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xix. 

tries  to  get  across  the  lake,  but  cannot,  as  the  slavers 
own  all  the  dhows,  and  will  neither  lend  nor  sell  to  him; 
he  has  therefore  to  creep  on  foot  round  its  southern  end. 
Marks  of  destruction  and  desolation  again  shock  the  eye 
— skulls  and  bones  everywhere.  At  the  point  where  the 
Shire  leaves  Nyassa,  he  could  not  but  think  of  disap- 
pointed hopes — the  death  of  his  dear  wife,  and  of  the 
Bishop,  the  increasing  vigour  of  the  slave-trade,  and  the 
abandonment  of  the  Universities  Mission.  But  faith 
assured  him  of  good  times  coming,  though  he  might  not 
live  to  see  them.  Would  only  he  had  seen  through  the 
vista  of  the  next  ten  years  !  Bishop  Tozer  done  with 
Africa,  and  Bishop  Steere  returning  to  the  old  neigh- 
bourhood, and  resuming  the  old  work  of  the  Universities 
Mission ;  and  his  own  countrymen  planting  his  name  on 
the  promontory  on  which  he  gazed  so  sorrowfully,  train- 
ing the  poor  natives  in  the  arts  of  civilisation,  rearing 
Christian  households  among  them,  and  proclaimmg  the 
blessed  Gospel  of  the  God  of  love  ! 

Invariably  as  he  goes  along,  Dr.  Livingstone  aims  at 
two  things  :  at  teaching  some  of  the  great  truths  of  Chris- 
tianity, and  rousing  consciences  on  the  atrocious  guilt  of 
the  slave-trade.  In  connection  with  the  former  he  dis- 
covers that  his  usual  way  of  conducting  divine  service — 
by  the  reading  of  prayers — does  not  give  ignorant  persons 
any  idea  of  an  unseen  Being ;  kneehng  and  praying  with 
the  eyes  shut  is  better.  At  the  foot  of  the  lake  he  goes 
out  of  his  way  to  remonstrate  with  Mukate,  one  of  the 
chief  marauders  of  the  district.  The  tenor  of  his  addresses 
is  in  some  degree  sha23ed  by  the  practices  he  finds  so 
prevalent : — 

"  We  mention  our  relationship  to  our  Father,  the  guilt 
of  selling  any  of  His  children,  the  consequences  : — e.g.  it 
begets  war,  for  as  they  don't  like  to  sell  their  own,  they 
steal  from  other  villagers,  who  retaliate.  Arabs  and 
Waiyau,  invited  into  the  country  by  their  selling,  foster 


1866-69.]  FROM  ZANZIBAR  TO  UJIJI.  375 

feuds, — wars  and  depopulation  ensue.  We  mention  the 
Bible — future  state — prayer  ;  advise  union,  that  they 
would  unite  as  one  family  to  expel  enemies,  who  came 
first  as  slave-traders,  and  ended  by  leaving  the  country  a 
wilderness." 

It  was  about  this  time  that  Wikatani,  one  of  the 
two  Waiyau  boys  who  had  been  rescued  from  slavery, 
finding,  as  he  believed  or  said,  some  brothers  and  sisters 
on  the  western  shore  of  the  lake,  left  Livingstone  and 
remained  with  them.  There  had  been  an  impression  in 
some  quarters  that,  according  to  his  wont,  Livingstone 
had  made  him  his  slave ;  to  show  the  contrary,  he  gave 
him  his  choice  of  remaining  or  going,  and,  when  the  boy 
chose  to  remain,  he  acquiesced. 

Dr.  Livingstone  had  ere  now  passed  over  the  groimd 
where,  if  anywhere,  he  might  have  hoped  to  find  a  station 
for  a  commercial  and  missionary  settlement,  independent 
of  the  Portuguese.  In  this  hope  he  was  rather  disap- 
j^ointed.  The  only  spot  he  refers  to  is  the  district  west 
of  Mataka's,  which,  however,  was  so  difficult  of  access. 
Nearer  the  coast  a  mission  might  be  estabhshed,  and  to 
this  project  his  mind  turned  afterwards ;  but  it  would 
not  command  the  Nyassa  district.  On  the  whole  he  pre- 
ferred the  Zambesi  and  Shu-^  valley,  with  all  then-  diffi- 
culties. But  the  Bovuma  was  not  hopeless,  and  indeed,  , 
within  the  last  few  years,  the  Universities  Mission  has 
occupied  the  district  successfully. 

The  geographical  question  of  the  watershed  had  now 
to  be  grappled  with.  It  is  natural  to  ask  whether  this 
question  was  of  sufficient  importance  to  engage  his  main 
energies,  and  justify  the  incalcidable  sacrifices  under- 
gone by  hun  dming  the  remaining  six  years  of  his  life. 
First  of  all,  we  must  remember,  it  was  not  his  own  scheme 
— it  was  pressed  on  him  by  Sir  Boderick  Murchison  and 
the  Geographical  Society;  and  it  may  perhaps  be  doubted 
whether,  had  he  foreseen  the  cost  of  the  enterprise,  he 


376  DA  VJD  LIVINGSTONE,  [chap.  xix. 

would  have  deemed  the  object  worthy  of  the  price.  But 
ever  and  anon,  he  seemed  to  be  close  on  what  he  was 
searching  for,  and  certain  to  secure  it  by  just  a  little 
further  effort ;  while  as  often,  like  the  cup  of  Tantalus,  it 
was  snatched  from  his  grasp.  Moreover,  during  a  life- 
time of  splendid  self-discipHne,  he  had  been  training  him- 
self to  keep  his  promises,  and  to  complete  his  tasks; 
nor  could  he  in  any  way  see  it  his  duty  to  break  the  one 
or  leave  the  other  unfinished.  He  had  undertaken  to 
the  Geographical  Society  to  solve  that  problem,  and  he 
would  do  it  if  it  could  be  done.  Wherever  he  went  he 
had  always  some  opportunity  to  make  knoAvn  the  father- 
hood of  God  and  His  love  in  Christ,  although  the  seed 
he  sowed  seemed  seldom  to  take  root.  Then  he  was 
gathering  fresh  information  on  the  state  of  the  country 
and  the  habits  of  the  people.  He  was  especially  gather- 
ing information  on  the  accursed  slave-trade. 

This  question  of  the  watershed,  too,  had  fascinated 
liis  mind,  for  he  had  a  strong  unpression  that  the  real 
sources  of  the  Nile  were  far  higher  than  any  previous 
traveller  had  supposed — far  higher  than  Lake  Victoria 
Nyanza,  and  that  it  would  be  a  service  to  religion  as  well 
as  science,  to  discover  the  fountains  of  the  stream  on  whose 
bosom,  in  the  dawn  of  Hebrew  history,  Moses  had  floated 
in  his  ark  of  bulrushes.  A  strong  impression  lurked  in 
his  mind  that  if  he  should  only  solve  that  old  problem  he 
would  acquhe  such  influence  that  new  weight  would  be 
given  to  his  pleadings  for  Africa ;  just  as,  at  the  begin- 
ning of  his  career,  he  had  wished  for  a  commanding  style 
of  composition,  to  be  able  to  rouse  the  attention  of  the 
world  to  that  ill-treated  continent. 

He  was  strongly  disposed  to  think  that  in  the  account 
of  the  sources  given  to  Herodotus  by  the  Registrar  of 
Minerva  in  the  temple  of  Sais,  that  individual  was  not 
joking,  as  the  father  of  history  supposed.  He  thought 
that  in  the  watershed  the  two  conical  hills,  Crophi  and 


1866-69.]  FROM  ZANZIBAR  TO  UJIJI.  377 

Moplii,  might  be  found,  and  the  fountains  between  them 
which  it  was  impossible  to  fathom  ;  and  that  it  might  be 
seen  that  from  that  region  there  was  a  river  flowing 
north  to  Egypt,  and  another  flowing  south  to  a  country 
that  might  have  been  called  Ethiopia.  But  whatever 
miofht  be  his  views  or  aims,  it  was  ordained  that  in  the 
wanderings  of  his  last  years  he  should  bring  within  the 
sympathies  of  the  Christian  world  many  a  poor  tribe  other- 
wise unknown;  that  he  should  witness  sights,  surpassing 
all  he  had  ever  seen  before  of  the  inhumanity  and  horrors 
of  the  slave-trafiic — sights  that  harrowed  his  inmost  soul ; 
and  that  when  his  final  appeal  to  his  countrymen  on  be- 
half of  its  victims  came,  not  from  his  living  voice  but 
from  his  tomb,  it  should  gather  from  a  thousand  touching 
associations  a  thrilling  power  that  would  rouse  the  world, 
and  finally  root  out  the  accursed  thing. 

A  very  valuable  testimony  was  borne  by  Sir  Bartle 
Frere  to  the  real  aims  of  Livingstone,  and  the  value 
of  his  work,  especially  in  this  last  journey,  in  a  speech 
delivered  in  the  Glasgow  Chamber  of  Commerce,  10th 
November  1876  : — 

"  The  object,"  he  said,  "of  Dr.  Livingstone's  geographical  and 
scientific  explorations  was  to  lead  his  countrymen  to  the  great  work  of 
christianising  and  civilising  the  millions  of  Central  Africa.  You  will 
recollect  how  when  first  he  came  back  from  his  wonderful  journey, 
though  we  were  all  greatly  startled  by  his  achievements  and  by  what 
he  told  us,  people  really  did  not  lay  what  he  said  much  to  heart.  They 
were  stimulated  to  take  up  the  cause  of  African  discovery  again,  and 
other  travellers  Avent  out  and  did  excellent  service ;  but  the  great  ftict 
which  was  from  the  very  first  upon  Livingstone's  mind,  and  which  he 
used  to  impress  upon  you,  did  not  make  the  impression  he  wished,  and 
although  a  good  many  people  took  more  and  more  interest  in  the 
civilisation  of  Africa  and  in  the  abolition  of  the  slave-trade,  which  he 
pointed  out  was  the  great  obstacle  to  all  progress,  still  it  did  not  come 
home  to  the  people  generally.  It  was  not  until  his  third  and  last 
journey,  when  he  was  no  more  to  return  among  us,  that  the  descrip- 
tions which  he  gave  of  the  horrors  of  the  slave-trade  in  the  interior 
really  took  hold  upon  the  mind  of  the  people  of  this  country,  and  made 
them  determine  that  what  used  to  be  considered  the  crotchet  of  a  few 
religious  minds  and  humanitarian  sort  of  persons,  sliould  be  a  phase 


378  JDA  VID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xix. 

of  the  great  work  which  tliis  country  had  undertaken,  to  free  the 
African  races,  and  to  abolish,  in  the  first  place,  the  slave-trade  by 
sea,  and  then,  as  we  hope,  the  slaving  by  land." 

In  September  an  Arab  slaver  was  met  at  Marenga's, 
who  told  Musa,  one  of  the  Johanna  men,  that  all 
the  country  in  front  was  full  of  Mazitu,  a  warlike 
tribe ;  that  forty-four  Arabs  and  their  followers  had 
been  killed  by  them  at  Kasunga,  and  that  he  only 
had  escaped.  Musa's  heart  was  filled  with  consternation. 
It  was  in  vain  that  Marenga  assured  him  that  there  were 
no  Mazitu  in  the  direction  in  which  he  was  going,  and 
that  Livingstone  protested  to  him  that  he  would  give 
them  a  wide  berth.  The  Johanna  men  wanted  an  excuse 
for  going  back,  but  in  such  a  way  that,  when  they  reached 
Zanzibar,  they  should  get  their  pay.  They  left  him  in  a 
body,  and  when  they  got  to  Zanzibar,  cumulated  a  circum- 
stantial report  that  he  had  been  murdered.  In  December 
1866,  Musa  appeared  at  Zanzibar,  and  told  how  Living- 
stone had  crossed  Lake  Nyassa  to  its  western  or  north- 
western shore,  and  was  pushing  on  west  or  north-west, 
when,  between  Marenga  and  Makhsoora,  a  band  of  savages 
stopped  the  way,  and  rushed  on  him  and  his  small  band 
of  followers,  now  reduced  to  twenty.  Livingstone  fired 
twice,  and  killed  two ;  but,  in  the  act  of  reloading,  three 
Mafite  leapt  upon  him  through  the  smoke,  one  of  them 
felled  him  with  an  axe-cut  from  behind,  and  the  blow 
nearly  severed  his  head  from  his  body.  The  Johanna 
men  fled  into  the  thick  jungle,  and  miraculously  escaped. 
Beturning  to  the  scene  of  the  tragedy,  they  foimd  the 
body  of  their  master,  and  in  a  shallow  grave  dug  with 
some  stakes,  they  committed  his  remains  to  the  ground. 
Many  details  were  given  regarding  the  Sepoys,  and 
regarding  the  after  fortunes  of  Musa  and  his  companions. 
Under  cross-examination  Musa  stood  firmly  to  his  story, 
which  was  believed  both  by  Dr.  Seward  and  Dr.  Kirk  of 
Zanzibar.     But  when  the  tidings  reached  England,  doubt 


1866-69.]  FROM  ZANZIBAR  TO  UJIJI.  ^'jg 

was  thrown  on  them  by  some  of  those  best  qualified  to 
judge.  Mr.  Edward  D.  Young,  who  had  had  deahngs 
with  Musa,  and  knew  him  to  be  a  liar,  was  suspicious  of 
the  story ;  so  was  Mr.  Horace  Waller.  Sir  Roderick 
Murchison,  too,  proclaimed  himself  an  unbeliever,  not- 
withstanding all  the  circumstantiality  and  apparent  con- 
clusiveness of  the  tale.  The  country  was  resounding 
with  lamentations,  the  newspapers  were  full  of  obituary 
notices,  but  the  strong-minded  disbelievers  were  not  to 
be  moved. 

Sir  Koderick  and  his  friends  of  the  Geographical 
Society  determined  to  organise  a  search  expedition,  and 
Mr.  E.  D.  Young  was  requested  to  undertake  the  task. 
In  May  1867  all  was  ready  for  the  departure  of  the 
Expedition ;  and  on  the  25th  July,  Mr.  E.  D.  Young, 
who  was  accompanied  by  Mr.  Faulkner,  John  E-eid,  and 
Patrick  Buckley,  cast  anchor  at  the  mouth  of  the  Zambesi. 
A  steel  boat  named  "  The  Search,"  and  some  smaller 
boats,  were  speedily  launched,  and  the  party  were  moving 
up  the  river.  We  have  no  space  for  an  account  of  Mr. 
Young's  most  interesting  journey,  not  even  for  the  detail 
of  that  wonderful  achievement,  the  carrying  of  the  pieces 
of  the  "  Search"  past  the  Murchison  Cataracts,  and  their 
reconstruction  at  the  top,  without  a  single  piece  missing. 
The  sum  and  substance  of  Mr.  Young's  story  was,  that 
first,  quite  unexpectedly,  he  came  upon  a  man  near  the 
south  end  of  Lake  Nyassa,  who  had  seen  Livingstone 
there,  and  who  described  him  well,  showing  that  he  had 
not  crossed  at  the  north  end,  as  Musa  had  said,  but,  for 
some  reason,  had  come  round  by  the  south ;  then,  the 
chief  Marenga  not  only  told  him  of  Livingstone's  stay 
there,  but  also  of  the  return  of  Musa,  after  leaving  him, 
without  any  story  of  liis  murder  ;  also,  at  Mapunda,  they 
came  on  traces  of  the  boy  Wikatani,  and  learned  his 
story,  though  they  did  not  see  himself  The  most  ample 
proof  of  the  falsehood  of  Musa's  story  was  thus  obtained. 


38o  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xix. 

and  by  the  end  of  1867,  Mr.  Young,  after  a  most  active, 
gallant,  and  successful  campaign,  was  apj)roacliing  the 
shores  of  England.^  No  enterprise  could  have  brought 
more  satisfactory  results,  and  all  in  the  incredibly  short 
period  of  eight  months. 

Meanwhile,  Livingstone,  Httle  thinking  of  all  the  com- 
motion that  the  knave  Musa  had  created,  was  pushing  on 
in  the  direction  of  Jjtike  Tanganyika.  Though  it  was  not 
true  that  he  had  been  murdered,  it  was  true  that  he  was 
half-starved.  The  want  of  other  food  compelled  him  to 
subsist  to  a  large  extent  on  African  maize,  the  most 
tasteless  and  unsatisfying  of  food.  It  never  produced 
the  feeling  of  sufficiency,  and  it  would  set  him  to  dream, 
of  dmners  he  had  once  eaten,  though  dreaming  was  not 
his  habit,  except  when  he  was  ill.  Against  his  will,  the 
thought  of  delicious  feasts  would  come  upon  him,  making 
it  all  the  more  difficult  to  be  cheerful,  with,  probably,  the 
poorest  fare  on  which  life  could  be  in  any  way  maintained. 
To  complete  his  misery,  his  four  goats  were  lost,  so  that 
the  one  comfort  of  his  table — a  little  milk  along  with 
his  maize — w^as  taken  from  him  when  most  eagerly 
sought  and  valued. 

In  reviewing  the  year  186G,  he  finds  it  less  productive 
of  results  than  he  had  hoped  for:  "We  now  end  1866. 
It  has  not  been  so  fruitful  or  useful  as  I  intended.  Will 
try  to  do  better  in  1867,  and  be  better — more  gentle  and 
loving ;  and  may  the  Almighty,  to  whom  I  commit  my 
way,  bring  my  desires  to  pass,  and  prosper  me  !  Let  all 
the  sins  of  '66  be  blotted  out,  for  Jesus'  sake.  May  He 
who  was  full  of  grace  and  truth  impress  His  character  on 
mine  :  grace — eagerness  to  show  favour  ;  truth — truthful- 
ness, sincerity,  honour — for  His  mercy's  sake." 

Habitually  brave  and  fearless  though  Livingstone 
was,  it  was  not  without  frequent  self-stimulation,  and 
acts  of  faith  in  unseen  truth,  that  the  peace  of  his  mind 

^  See  The  Search  for  Livingstone,  by  E.  D.  Youug  ;  Loudon,  1S6S. 


1866-69.]  FROM  ZANZIBAR  TO  UJIJI.  381 

was  maintained.  In  tlie  midst  of  his  notes  of  progress, 
such  private  thoughts  as  the  following  occur  from  time  to 
time  :  "It  seems  to  have  been  a  mistake  to  imagine  that 
the  Divine  Majesty  on  high  was  too  exalted  to  take  any 
notice  of  our  mean  affairs.  The  great  minds  among  men 
are  remarkable  for  the  attention  they  bestow  on  minutise. 
An  astronomer  cannot  be  great  unless  his  mind  can  grasp 
an  infinity  of  very  small  things,  each  of  which,  if  unattended 
to,  would  throw  his  work  out.  A  great  general  attends 
to  the  smallest  details  of  his  army.  The  Duke  of  Welling- 
ton's letters  show  his  constant  attention  to  minute  details. 
And  so  with  the  Supreme  Mind  of  the  universe,  as  He  is 
revealed  to  us  in  His  Son.  '  The  very  hairs  of  your  head 
are  all  numbered.'  '  A  sparrow  cannot  fall  to  the  ground 
without  your  Father.'  '  He  who  dwelleth  in  the  light 
which  no  man  can  approach  unto'  condescends  to  provide 
for  the  minutest  of  our  wants,  directing,  guarding,  and 
assisting  in  each  hour  and  moment,  with  an  infinitely 
more  vi<xilant  and  excellent  care  than  oiu"  own  utmost 
self-love  can  ever  attain  to.  With  the  ever-watchful, 
loving  eye  constantly  upon  me,  I  may  surely  follow  my 
bent,  and  go  among  the  heathen  in  front,  bearing  the 
message  of  peace  and  good-will.  All  appreciate  the  state- 
ment that  it  is  offensive  to  our  common  Father  to  sell 
and  kill  His  children.  I  will  therefore  go,  and  may  the 
Almighty  help  me  to  be  faithful !  " 

Writing  to  his  son  Thomas,  1st  February  18G7,  he 
complains  again  of  his  terrible  hunger  : — 

"  The  people  have  nothing  to  sell  but  a  little  millet-porridge  and 
mushrooms.  Woe  is  me  !  good  enough  to  produce  fine  dreams  of  the 
roast  beef  of  old  England,  but  nothing  else.  I  have  become  very  thin, 
though  I  was  so  before ;  but  now,  if  you  Aveighed  me,  you  might  cal- 
culate very  easily  how  much  you  might  get  for  the  bones.  But — we 
got  a  cow  yesterdaj' ,  and  I  am  to  get  milk  to-morrow.  ...  I  grieve  to 
write  it,  poor  poodle  'Chitane'  was  drowned"  [loth  January,  in  the 
Chirabwe] ;  "  he  had  to  cross  a  marsh  a  mile  wide,  and  waist-deep.  .  .  . 
I  went  over  first,  and  forgot  to  give  directions  about  the  dog — all  were 
too  much  engaged  in  keeping  their  balance  to  notice  that  he  swam 


382  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xix. 

among  them  till  he  died.  He  had  more  spunk  than  a  hundred  country 
dogs — took  charge  of  the  whole  line  of  march,  ran  to  see  the  first  in 
the  line,  then  back  to  the  last,  and  barked  to  haul  him  up  ;  then,  when 
he  knew  what  hut  I  occupied,  would  not  let  a  country  cur  come  in  sight 
of  it,  and  never  stole  himself.  We  have  not  had  any  difficulties  with 
the  people,  made  many  friends,  imparted  a  little  knowledge  sometimes, 
and  raised  a  protest  against  slavery  very  widely." 

/  The  year  1867  was  signalised  by  a  great  calamity, 
and  by  two  important  geographical  feats.  The  cal- 
amity was  the  loss  of  his  medicine-chest.  It  had 
been  intrusted  to  one  of  his  most  careful  people ;  but, 
without  authority,  a  carrier  hired  for  the  day  took  it 
and  some  other  things  to  carry  for  the  proper  bearer,  then 
bolted,  and  neither  carrier  nor  box  could  be  found.  "I 
felt,"  says  Livingstone,  "as  if  I  had  now  received  the 
sentence  of  death,  like  poor  Bishop  Mackenzie."  With 
the  medicine-chest  was  lost  the  power  of  treating  himself 
in  fever  with  the  medicine  that  had  jDroved  so  effect ual. 
We  find  him  not  long  after  in  a  state  of  insensibility, 
trying  to  raise  himself  from  the  ground,  falling  back  with 
all  his  weight,  and  knocking  his  head  upon  a  box.  The 
loss  of  the  medicine-box  was  probably  the  beginning  of 

v  the  end ;  his  system  lost  the  wonderful  power  of  recovery 
which  it  had  hitherto  shown  ;  and  other  ailments — in  the 
lungs,  the  feet,  and  the  bowels,  that  might  have  been  kept 
under  in  a  more  vigorous  state  of  general  health,  began 
hereafter  to  prevail  against  him. 

The  two  geographical  feats  were — his  first  sight  of 
Lake  Tanganyika,  and  his  discovery  of  Lake  Moero.  Li 
April  he  reached  Lake  Liemba,  as  the  lower  part  of 
Tanganyika  was  called.  The  scenery  was  wonderfully 
beautiful,  and  the  air  of  the  whole  region  remarkably 
jDeaceful.  The  want  of  medicine  made  an  illness  here  very 
severe  ;  on  recovering,  he  would  have  gone  down  the  lake, 
but  was  dissuaded,  in  consequence  of  his  hearing  that  a 
chief  was  killing  all  that  came  that  way.  He  therefore 
returns    to    Chitimba's,    and    resolves   to    explore    Lake 


1866-69.]  FROM  ZANZIBAR  TO  UJIJl.  383 

Moero,  believing  that  there  the  question  of  the  watershed 
would  be  decided.  At  Chitimba's,  he  is  detained  upwards 
of  three  months,  in  consequence  of  the  disturbed  state 
of  the  country.  At  last  he  gets  the  escort  of  some  Arab 
traders,  who  show  him  much  kindness,  but  again  he  is 
prostrated  by  illness,  and  at  length  he  reaches  Lake 
Moero,  8th  November  1867.  He  hears  of  another  lake, 
called  Bembo  or  Bangweolo,  and  to  hear  of  it  is  to  resolve 
to  see  it.  But  he  is  terribly  wearied  with  two  years' 
travelling  without  having  heard  from  home,  and  he  thinks 
he  must  first  go  to  Ujiji,  for  letters  and  stores.  Mean- 
while, as  the  traders  are  going  to  Casembe's,  he  accom- 
panies them  thither.  Casembe  he  finds  to  be  a  fierce 
chief,  who  rules  his  people  with  great  tyranny,  cutting 
off  their  ears,  and  even  their  hands,  for  the  most  trivial 
offences.  Persons  so  mutilated,  seen  in  his  village, 
excite  a  feeling  of  horror.  This  chief  was  not  one  easily 
got  at,  but  Livingstone  believed  that  he  gained  an 
influence  with  him,  only  he  could  not  quite  overcome 
his  prejudice  against  him.  The  year  1867  ended  with 
another  severe  attack  of  illness. 

"  The  chief  interest  in  Lake  Moero,"  says  Livingstone,  "  is  that  it 
forms  one  of  a  chain  of  lakes,  connected  by  a  river  some  500  miles 
in  length.  First  of  all,  the  Chambeze  rises  in  the  country  of  Mambwe, 
N.E.  of  Molemba ;  it  then  flows  south-west  and  west,  till  it  reaches  lat. 
11°  s.,  and  long.  29°  E.,  Avhere  it  forms  Lake  Bemba  or  Bangweolo; 
emerging  thence,  it  assumes  the  name  of  Luapula,  and  comes  down 
here  to  fall  into  Moero.  On  going  out  of  this  lake  it  is  known  by  the 
name  of  Lualaba,  as  it  flows  N.w.  in  Eua  to  form  another  lake  with 
many  islands,  called  Urenge  or  Ulenge.  Beyond  this,  information  is  not 
positive  as  to  whether  it  enters  Lake  Tanganyika,  or  another  lake  be- 
yond that.  .  .  .  Since  coming  to  Casembe's,  the  testimony  of  natives 
and  Arabs  has  been  so  united  and  consistent,  that  I  am  but  ten  days 
from  Lake  Bemba  or  Bangweolo,  that  I  cannot  doubt  its  accuracy." 

The  detentions  experienced  in  1867  were  long  and 
wearisome,  and  Livingstone  disliked  them  because  he  was 
never  well  when  doing  nothing.  His  light  reading  must 
have  been  pretty  well  exhausted  ;  even  Smith's  Dictionary 


384  DA  VID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xix. 

of  the  Bihle,  which  accompanied  him  in  these  wander- 
ings, and  which  we  have  no  dovibt  he  read  throughout, 
must  have  got  wearisome  sometimes.  He  occupied  him- 
self in  writing  letters,  in  the  hope  that  somehow  or  some- 
time he  might  find  an  opportunity  of  despatching  them. 
He  took  the  rainfall  carefully  during  the  year,  and  lunars, 
and  other  observations,  when  the  sky  permitted.  He  had 
intended  to  make  his  observations  more  perfect  on  this 
journey  than  on  any  jDrevious  one,  but  alas  for  his  diffi- 
culties and  disappointments  I  A  letter  to  Sir  Thomas 
Maclear  and  Mr.  Mann  his  assistant,  gives  a  pitiful  account 
of  these  :  "I  came  this  journey  with  a  determination  to 
observe  very  carefully  all  your  hints  as  to  occultations  and 
observations,  east  and  west,  north  and  south,  but  I  have 
been  so  worried  by  lazy,  deceitful  Sepoys,  and  thievish 
Johanna  men,  and  indifferent  instruments,  that  I  fear  the 
results  are  very  poor."  He  goes  on  to  say  that  some  of 
his  instruments  were  defective,  and  others  went  out  of 
order,  and  that  his  time-taker,  one  of  his  people,  had 
no  conscience,  and  could  not  be  trusted.  The  records  of 
his  observations,  notwithstanding,  indicate  much  care 
and  pains.  In  April,  he  had  been  very  imwell,  takmg 
fits  of  total  insensibility,  but  as  he  had  not  said  any- 
thing of  this  to  his  ^^eople  at  home,  it  was  to  be  kept 
a  secret. 

His  Journal  for  1867  ends  with  a  statement  of  the 
poverty  of  his  food,  and  the  weakness  to  which  he  was 
reduced.  He  had  hardly  anything  to  eat  but  the  coarsest 
grain  of  the  country,  and  no  tea,  coffee,  or  sugar.  An 
Arab  trader,  Mohamad  Bogharib,  who  arrived  at  Casembe's 
about  the  same  time,  presented  him  with  a  meal  of  ver- 
micelli, oil,  and  honey,  and  had  some  coffee  and  sugar ; 
Livingstone  had  had  none  since  he  left  Nyassa. 

The  Journal  for  1868  begins  with  a  prayer  that  if  he 
should  die  that  year,  he  might  be  prepared  for  it.  The 
year  was  spent  in  the  same  region,  and  was  signalised  by 


1S66-69.]  FROM  ZANZIBAR  TO  UJIJI.  385 

the  discovery  of  Lake  Bemba,  or,  as  it  may  more  properly 
be  called,  Lake  Bangweolo.  Early  in  the  year  he  heard 
accounts  of  what  interested  him  greatly — certain  under- 
ground houses  in  Rua,  ranging  along  a  mountain  side  for 
twenty  miles.  In  some  cases  the  doorways  were  level 
with  the  country  adjacent ;  in  others,  ladders  were  used 
to  climb  up  to  them ;  inside  they  were  said  to  be  very 
large,  and  not  the  work  of  men,  but  of  God.  He  became 
eagerly  desirous  to  visit  these  mysterious  dwellings. 

Circumstances  turnino-  out  more  favourable  to  his 
going  to  Lake  Bangweolo,  Dr.  Livingstone  put  off  his 
journey  to  Ujiji,  on  which  his  men  had  been  counting, 
and  much  afifainst  the  advice  of  Mohamad,  his  trader 
friend  and  companion,  determined  first  to  see  the  lake  of 
which  he  had  heard  so  much.  The  consequence  was,  a 
rebellion  among  his  men.  With  the  exception  of  five, 
they  refused  to  go  with  him.  They  had  been  considerably 
demoralised  by  contact  with  the  Arab  trader  and  his 
slave-gang.  Dr.  Livingstone  took  this  rebellion  with 
wonderful  placidity,  for  in  his  own  mind  he  could  not 
greatly  blame  them.  It  was  no  wonder  they  were  tired 
of  the  everlasting  tramping,  for  he  was  sick  of  it  him- 
self He  reaped  the  fruit  of  his  mildness  by  the  men 
coming  back  to  him,  on  his  return  from  the  lake,  and 
offering  their  services.  It  cannot  be  said  of  him  that  he 
was  not  disposed  to  make  any  allowance  for  human  weak- 
ness. When  recording  a  fault,  and  how  he  dealt  with  it, 
he  often  adds,  *'  consciousness  of  my  own  defects  makes 
me  lenient."     "  I  also  have  my  weaknesses." 

The  way  to  the  lake  was  marked  by  fresh  and  lament- 
able tokens  of  the  sufferings  of  slaves.  "24^/i  June. — 
Six  men-slaves  were  singing  as  if  they  did  not  feel  the 
weight  and  deo^radation  of  the  slave-sticks.  I  asked  the 
cause  of  their  mirth,  and  was  told  that  they  rejoiced  at 
the  idea  of  '  coming  back  after  death,  and  haunting  and 
killino;  those  who  had  sold  them.'     Some  of  the  words 

2  B 


3S6  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xix. 

I  had  to  inquire  about ;  for  instance,  the  meaning  of  the 
words,  '  to  haunt  and  kill  by  spirit  power  ;'  then  it  was, 
'  Oh,  you  sent  me  oft*  to  Manga  (sea-coast),  but  the  yoke 
is  off*  when  I  die,  and  back  I  shall  come  to  haunt  and  to 
kill  you/  Then  all  joined  in  the  chorus,  which  was  the 
name  of  each  vendor.  It  told  not  of  fun,  but  of  the 
bitterness  and  tears  of  such  as  were  oppressed ;  and  on 
the  side  of  the  oppressors  there  was  power.  There  be 
higher  than  they  !" 

His  discovery  of  Lake  Bangweolo  is  recorded  as  quietly 
as  if  it  had  been  a  mill-pond:  "On  the  18th  July,  I 
walked  a  little  way  out,  and  saw  the  shores  of  the  lake 
for  the  first  time,  thankful  that  I  had  come  safely  hither." 
The  lake  had  several  inhabited  isla,nds,  which  Dr.  Living- 
stone visited,  to  the  great  wonder  of  the  natives,  who 
crowded  around  him  in  multitudes,  never  having  seen 
such  a  curiosity  as  a  white  man  before.  In  the  middle 
of  the  lake  the  canoe-men  whom  he  had  hired  to  carry 
him  across  refused  to  proceed  further,  under  the  influence 
of  some  fear,  real  or  pretended,  and  he  was  obliged  to 
submit.  But  the  most  interesting,  though  not  the  most 
pleasant,  thing  about  the  lake,  w^as  the  ooze  or  sponge 
which  occurred  frequently  on  its  banks.  The  spongy 
places  were  slightly  depressed  valleys,  without  trees  or 
bushes,  with  grass  a  foot  or  fifteen  inches  high ;  they 
were  usually  from  two  to  ten  miles  long,  and  from  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  to  a  mile  broad.  In  the  course  of  thirty 
geographical  miles,  he  crossed  twenty-nine,  and  that  too, 
at  the  end  of  the  fourth  month  of  the  diy  season.  It  was 
necessary  for  him  to  strip  the  lower  part  of  his  person 
before  fording  them,  and  then  the  leeches  pounced  on  him, 
and  in  a  moment  had  secured  such  a  grip,  that  even 
twistingf  them  round  the  finorers  failed  to  tear  them  ofiP. 

It  was  Dr.  Livingstone's  impression  at  this  time  that 
in  discovering  Lake  Bangweolo,  with  the  sponges  that  fed 
it,  he  had   made  another  discovery — that  these  marshy 


1866-69.]  FROM  ZANZIBAR  TO  UJIJI.  387 

places  might  be  the  real  sources  of  the  three  great  rivers, 
the  Nile,  the  Congo,  and  the  Zambesi.  A  link,  however, 
was  yet  wanting  to  prove  his  theory.  It  had  yet  to 
be  shown  that  the  waters  that  flowed  from  Lake  Bang- 
weolo  into  Lake  Moero,  and  thence  northwards  by  the 
river  Lualaba,  were  connected  with  the  Nile  system. 
Dr.  Livingstone  was  strongly  inclined  to  believe  that 
this  connection  existed ;  but  towards  the  close  of  his 
life  he  had  more  doubts  of  it,  although  it  was  left  to 
others  to  establish  conclusively  that  the  Lualaba  was  the 
Congo,  and  sent  no  branch  to  the  Nile. 

On  leaving  Lake  Bangweolo,  detention  occurred  again 
as  it  had  occurred  before.  The  country  was  very  disturbed 
and  very  miserable,  and  Dr.  Livingstone  was  in  great 
straits  and  want.  Yet  with  a  grim  humour  he  tells  how, 
when  lying  in  an  open  shed,  with  all  his  men  around  him, 
he  dreamt  of  having  apartments  at  Mivart's  Hotel,  It 
was  after  much  delay  that  he  found  himself  at  last,  under 
the  escort  of  a  slave-party,  on  the  way  to  Ujiji.  Mr. 
Waller  has  graphically  described  the  situation.  "  At 
last  he  makes  a  start  on  the  11th  of  December  1868,  wdth 
the  Arabs,  who  are  bound  eastwards  for  Ujiji.  It  is  a 
motley  group,  composed  of  Mohamad  and  his  friends,  a 
gang  of  Unyamwezi  hangers-on,  and  strings  of  wretched 
slaves  yoked  together  in  their  heavy  slave-sticks.  Some 
carry  ivory,  others  coj)per,  or  food  for  the  march,  whilst 
hope  and  fear,  misery  and  villainy,  may  be  read  off  on  the 
various  faces  that  pass  in  line  out  of  this  country,  like  a 
serpent  dragging  its  accursed  folds  away  from  the  victim 
it  has  paralysed  with  its  fangs." 

New  Year's  Day,  1869,  found  Livingstone  labouring 
under  a  worse  attack  of  illness  than  any  he  had  ever  had 
before.  For  ten  weeks  to  come  his  situation  was  as  pain- 
ful as  can  be  conceived.  A  continual  cough,  night  and 
day,  the  most  distressing  weakness,  inability  to  walk,  yet 
the  necessity  of  moving  on,  or  rather  of  being  moved  on, 


388  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xix. 

in  a  kind  of  litter  arranged  by  Mohamad  Bogharib — where, 
with  his  face  poorly  protected  from  the  sun,  he  was 
jolted  lip  and  down  and  sideways,  without  medicine  or 
food  for  an  invalid, — made  the  situation  sufficiently  trying. 
His  prayer  was  that  he  might  hold  out  to  Ujiji,  where  he 
expected  to  find  medicines  and  stores,  with  the  rest  and 
shelter  so  necessary  in  his  circumstances.  So  ill  was  he, 
that  he  lost  count  of  the  days  of  the  week  and  the  month. 
/"I  saw  myself  lying  dead  in  the  way  to  Ujiji,  and  all  the 
letters  I  expected  there — useless.  When  I  think  of  my 
children,  the  lines  ring  through  my  head  perpetually  : — 

'  I  shall  look  into  your  faces, 

And  listen  to  what  you  say ; 
And  be  often  very  near  you 

"When  you  think  I  'm  far  away.' " 

On  the  2Gth  February  1869  he  embarked  in  a  canoe 
on  Tanganyika,  and  on  the  14  th  March  he  reached  the 
longed-for  Ujiji,  on  the  eastern  shore  of  the  lake.  To 
complete  his  trial,  he  found  that  the  goods  he  expected 
had  been  made  away  with  in  every  direction.  A  few 
fragments  was  about  all  he  could  find.  Medicines,  wine, 
and  cheese  had  been  left  at  Unyanyembe,  thirteen  days 
distant.  A  war  was  raging  on  the  way,  so  that  they  could 
not  be  sent  for  till  the  communications  were  restored. 

To  obviate  as  far  as  possible,  the  recurrence  of  such  a 
disaster  to  a  new  store  of  goods  which  he  was  now  asking 
Dr.  Kirk  to  send  him,  Livingstone  wrote  a  letter  to  the 
Sultan  of  Zanzibar,  20th  April  1869,  in  which  he  frankly 
and  cordially  acknowledged  the  benefit  he  had  derived 
from  the  letter  of  recommendation  his  Highness  had 
given  him,  and  the  great  kindness  of  the  Arabs,  espe- 
cially Mohamad  Bogharib,  who  had  certainly  saved  his  life. 
Then  he  complains  of  the  robbery  of  his  goods,  chiefly  by 
one  Musa  bin  Salim,  one  of  the  people  of  the  Governor 
of  Unyanyembe,  who  had  bought  ivory  with  the  price,  and 
another  man  who  had  bought  a  wife.     Livingstone  does 


1866-69.]  FROM  ZANZIBAR  TO  UJIJI.  3S9 

not  expect  his  cloth  and  beads  to  be  brought  back,  or  the 
price  of  the  wife  and  ivory  returned,  but  he  says  : — 

"  I  beg  the  assistance  of  your  authority  to  prevent  a 
fresh  stock  of  goods,  for  which  I  now  send  to  Zanzibar, 
being  pkindered  in  the  same  way.  Had  it  been  the  loss 
of  ten  or  tw^elve  pieces  of  cloth  only,  I  should  not  have 
presumed  to  trouble  your  Highness  about  the  loss  ;  but 
62  pieces  or  gorahs  out  of  80,  besides  beads,  is  like  cut- 
ting a  man's  throat.  If  one  or  two  guards  of  good 
character  could  be  sent  by  you,  no  one  would  plunder 
the  pagasi  next  time. 

"  I  wish  also  to  hire  twelve  or  fifteen  good  freemen 
to  act  as  canoe-men  or  porters,  or  in  any  other  capacity 
that  may  be  required.  I  shall  be  greatly  obliged  if  you 
appoint  one  of  your  gentlemen  who  knows  the  country  to 
select  that  number,  and  give  them  and  their  headman  a 
charge  as  to  their  behaviour.  If  they  know  that  you 
wish  them  to  behave  well  it  wiU  have  great  effect.  I 
wish  to  go  down  Tanganyika,  through  Luanda  and  Chow- 
ambe,  and  past  the  river  Karagw^e,  which  falls  into  Lake 
Chowambe.  Then  come  back  to  Ujiji,  visit  Manyuema 
and  Rua,  and  then  return  to  Zanzibar,  when  I  hope  to 
see  your  Highness  in  the  enjoyment  of  health  and 
happiness." 

Livingstone  showed  only  his  usual  foresight  in  taking 
these  precautions  for  the  protection  of  his  next  cargo  of 
goods.  In  stating  so  plainly  his  intended  route,  his  pur- 
pose was  doubtless  to  prevent  carelessness  in  executing 
his  orders,  such  as  might  have  arisen  had  it  been  deemed 
uncertain  where  he  was  going,  and  whether  or  not  he 
meant  to  return  by  Zanzibar. 

Of  letters  during  the  latter  part  of  this  period  very 
few  seem  to  have  reached  their  destination.  A  short 
letter  to  Dr.  Moffat,  bearing  date  "  Near  Lake  Moero, 
March  1868,"  d^vells  dolefully  on  his  inability  to  reach 
Lake  Eemba  in  consequence  of  the  flooded  state  of  the 


39°  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xix. 

country,  and  then  his  detention  through  the  strifes  of 
the  Arabs  and  the  natives.  The  letter,  however,  is  more 
occupied  with  reviewing  the  past  than  narrating  the 
present.  In  writing  to  Dr.  Moffat,  he  enters  more 
minutely  than  he  w^ould  have  done  with  a  less  intimate 
and  sympathetic  friend  into  the  difficulties  of  his  lot — 
difficulties  that  had  been  increased  by  some  from  whom 
he  might  have  expected  other  things.  He  had  once  seen 
a  map,  displayed  in  the  rooms  of  the  Geographical  Society, 
substantially  his  ow^n,  but  with  another  name  in  con- 
spicuous letters.  On  the  Zambesi  he  had  had  difficulties, 
httle  suspected,  of  which  in  the  meantime  he  would  say 
nothing  to  the  jDublic.  A  letter  to  his  daughter  Agnes, 
after  he  had  gone  to  Bangweolo,  dwells  also  much  on  his 
past  difficulties — as  if  he  felt  that  the  slow  progress  he 
was  making  at  the  moment  needed  explanation  or  apology. 
Amid  such  tojDics,  almost  involuntary  touches  of  the  old 
humour  occur  : — "  I  broke  my  teeth  tearing  at  maize  and 
other  hard  food,  and  they  are  coming  out.  One  front  tooth 
is  out,  and  I  have  such  an  awfid  mouth.  If  you  expect  a 
kiss  from  me,  you  must  take  it  through  a  speaking-trum- 
pet." In  one  respect,  amid  all  his  trials,  his  heart  seems 
to  become  more  tender  than  ever — in  affection  for  his  chil- 
dren, and  wise  and  considerate  advice  for  then'  guidance. 
In  his  letter  to  Agnes,  he  adverts  with  some  regret  to 
a  chance  he  lost  of  saymg  a  word  for  his  family  when 
Lord  Palmerston  sent  Mr.  Hay  ward,  Q.C.,  to  ask  him 
what  he  could  do  to  serve  him.  "  It  never  occurred  to 
me  that  he  meant  anything  for  me  or  my  children  till  I 
was  out  here.  I  thought  only  of  my  work  m  Africa, 
and  answered  accordingly."  It  was  only  the  fear  that 
his  family  would  be  in  want  that  occasioned  this  mo- 
mentary regret  at  his  disinterested  answer  to  Lord 
Palmerston. 


1869-71.]  MANYUEMA.  391 


CHAPTEn  XX. 

MANYUEMA. 

A.D.  1869-1871. 

He  sets  out  to  explore  Manyuema  and  the  river  Lvialaba — Loss  of  forty-two 
letters — His  feebleness  through  illness — He  arrives  at  Bambarre — Becomes 
acquainted  with  the  soko  or  gorilla — Reaches  the  Luama  river — Magnificence 
of  the  country — Repulsiveness  of  the  people — Cannot  get  a  canoe  to  explore 
the  Lualaba — Has  to  return  to  Bambarre— Letter  to  Thomas,  and  retrospect 
of  his  life — Letter  to  Sir  Thomas  Maclear  and  Mr.  Mann — Miss  Tinne — He 
is  worse  in  health  than  ever,  yet  resolves  to  add  to  his  programme  and  go 
round  Lake  Bangweolo — Letter  to  Agnes — Review  of  the  past — He  sets  out 
anew  in  a  more  northerly  direction — Overpowered  by  constant  wet — Reaches 
Nyangwe — Long  detention — Letter  to  his  brother  John — Sense  of  difficulties 
and  troubles — Nobility  of  his  spirit — He  sets  off  with  only  three  attendants 
for  the  Lualaba — Suspicions  of  the  natives — Influence  of  Arab  traders — 
Fi-ightful  difficulties  of  the  way — Lamed  by  foot-sores — Has  to  return  to 
Bambarre — Long  and  wearisome  detention — Occupations — Meditations  and 
reveries — Death  no  terror — Unparalleled  position  and  trials — He  reads  his 
Bible  from  beginning  to  end  four  times — Letter  to  Sir  Thomas  Maclear — To 
Agnes — His  delight  at  her  sentiments  about  his  coming  home — Account  of 
the  soko — Grief  to  hear  of  death  of  Lady  Murchison — Wretched  character  of 
men  sent  from  Zanzibar — At  last  sets  out  with  Mohamad — Difficulties — 
Slave-trade  most  horrible — Cannot  get  canoes  for  Lualaba — Long  Avaiting — 
New  plan — Frustrated  by  horrible  massacre  on  banks  of  Lualaba — Frightful 
scene — He  must  return  to  Ujiji — New  illness — Perils  of  journey  to  Ujiji— 
Life  three  times  endangered  in  one  day — Reaches  Ujiji — Shereef  has  sold  off 
his  goods — He  is  almost  in  despair — Meets  Henry  M.  Stanley  and  is  relieved 
—His  contributions  to  Natural  Science  during  last  journeys — ^^Professor  Owen 
in  the  QuarLerly  Review. 

After  resting  for  a  few  weeks  at  Ujiji,  Dr.  Livingstone 
set  out,  12th  July  1869,  to  explore  the  Manyuema 
country.  Ujiji  was  not  a  place  favourable  for  making 
arrangements ;  it  was  the  resort  of  the  worst  scum  of 
Arab  traders.  Even  to  send  his  letters  to  the  coast  was 
a  difficult  undertaking,  for  the  bearers  were  afraid  he 


392  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xx. 

would  expose  their  doings.  On  one  day  lie  despatched 
no  fewer  than  forty-two — enough,  no  doubt,  to  form  a 
large  volume ;  none  of  these  ever  arrived  at  Zanzibar,  so 
that  they  must  have  been  purposely  destroyed.  The 
slave-traders  of  Urungu  and  Itawa,  where  he  had  been, 
were  gentlemen  compared  with  those  of  Ujiji,  who 
resembled  the  Kilwa  and  Portuguese,  and  with  whom 
trading  was  simply  a  system  of  murder.  Here  lay  the 
cause  of  Livingstone's  unexampled  difficulties  at  this 
period  of  his  life ;  he  was  dependent  on  men  who  were 
not  only  knaves  of  the  first  magnitude,  but  who  had  a 
special  animosity  against  him,  and  a  special  motive  to 
deceive,  rob,  and  obstruct  him  in  every  possible  way. 

After  considerable  deliberation  he  decided  to  go 
to  Manyuema,  in  order  to  examine  the  river  Lualaba, 
and  determine  the  direction  of  its  flow.  This  would 
settle  the  question  of  the  watershed,  and  in  four  or  five 
months,  if  he  should  get  guides  and  canoes,  his  work 
would  be  done.  On  setting  out  from  Ujiji  he  first 
crossed  the  lake,  and  then  j)i"oceeded  inland  on  foot.  He 
was  still  weak  from  illness,  and  his  lungs  were  so  feeble 
that  to  walk  up-hill  made  him  pant.  He  became  stronger, 
however,  as  he  went  on,  refreshed  doubtless  by  the  in- 
teresting country  through  Avhich  he  passed,  and  the 
aspect  of  the  people,  who  were  very  different  from  the 
tribes  on  the  coast. 

On  the  21st  September  he  arrived  at  Bambarre  in 
Manyuema,  the  village  of  the  Chief  Moen^kuss.  He 
found  the  people  in  a  state  of  great  isolation  from  the 
rest  of  the  world,  with  nothing  to  trust  to  but  charms 
and  idols, — both  being  bits  of  wood.  He  made  the 
acquaintance  of  the  soko  or  gorilla,  not  a  very  social 
animal,  for  it  always  tries  to  bite  off  the  ends  of  its 
captor's  fingers  and  toes.  Neither  is  it  particularly 
intellectual,  for  its  nest  shows  no  more  contrivance  than 
that  of  a  cushat  dove.     The  curiosity  of  the  people  was 


1869-71.]  MANYUEMA,  393 

very  great,  and  sometimes  it  took  an  interesting  direc- 
tion. "  Do  people  die  with  you  ?"  asked  two  intelligent 
young  men.  "  Have  you  no  charm  against  death?  Where 
do  people  go  after  death  ?'  Livingstone  spoke  to  them 
of  the  great  Father,  and  of  their  prayers  to  Him  who 
hears  the  cry  of  His  children  ;  and  they  thought  this  to 
be  natural. 

He  rested  at  Bambarre  till  the  1st  of  November,  and 
then  went  westwards  till  he  reached  the  Luamo  river, 
and  was  within  ten  miles  of  its  confluence  with  the 
Lualaba.  He  found  the  country  surpassingly  beautiful : 
"  Palms  crown  the  highest  heights  of  the  mountains,  and 
their  gracefully  bent  fronds  wave  beautifully  in  the  wind. 
Climbers  of  cable  size  in  great  numbers  are  hung  among 
the  gigantic  trees  ;  many  unknown  wild  fruits  abound, 
some  the  size  of  a  child's  head,  and  strange  birds  and 
monkeys  are  everywhere.  The  soil  is  excessively  rich, 
and  the  people,  though  isolated  by  old  feuds  that  are 
never  settled,  cultivate  largely." 

The  country  was  very  po^^ulous,  and  Livingstone  so 
excited  the  curiosity  of  the  people  that  he  could  hardly 
get  quit  of  the  crowds.  It  was  not  so  uninteresting  to 
be  stared  at  by  the  women,  but  he  was  wearied  with  the 
ugliness  of  the  men.  Palm-toddy  did  not  inspire  them 
with  any  social  qualities,  but  made  them  low  and  dis- 
agreeable. They  had  no  friendly  feeling  for  him,  and 
could  not  be  inspired  with  any.  They  thought  that  he 
and  his  people  were  like  the  Arab  traders,  and  they  w^ould 
not  do  anything  for  them.  It  was  impossible  to  procure 
a  canoe  for  navigating  the  Lualaba,  so  that  there  was 
nothing  for  it  but  to  return  to  Bambarre,  which  was 
reached  on  the  19th  December  1869. 

A  long  letter  to  his  son  Thomas  (Town  of  Moenekuss, 
Manyuema  Country,  24th  September  18G9)  gives  a 
retrospect  of  this  period,  and  indeed,  in  a  sense,  of  his 
\i^Q  :— 


394  I^A  VID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xx. 

"My  dear.  Tom, — I  begin  a  letter,  though  I  have  no  prospect  of 
being  able  to  send  it  off  for  many  months  to  come.  It  is.  to  have 
something  in  readiness  when  the  hurry  usual  in  preparing  a  mail  does 
.irrive.  I  am  in  the  Manyuema  Country,  about  150  miles  west  of 
Ujiji,  and  at  the  town  of  Moenekoos  or  Moenekuss,  a  principal  chief 
among  the  reputed  cannibals.  His  name  means  '  Lord  of  the  light- 
grey  parrot  with  a  red  tail,'  which  abounds  here,  and  he  points  away 
still  further  west  to  the  country  of  the  real  cannibals.  His  people 
laugh  and  say  '  Yes,  we  eat  the  flesh  of  men,'  and  should  they  see  the 
inquirer  to  be  credulous  enter  into  particulars.  A  black  stuff"  smeared 
on  the  cheeks  is  the  sign  of  mourning,  and  they  told  one  of  my  people 
Avho  believes  all  they  say  that  it  is  animal  charcoal  made  of  the  bones 
of  the  relatives  they  have  eaten.  They  showed  him  the  skull  of  one 
recently  devoured,  and  he  pointed  it  out  to  me  in  triumph.  It  was  the 
skull  of  a  gorilla,  here  called  '  soko,'  and  this  they  do  eat.  They  put 
a  bunch  of  bananas  in  his  way,  and  hide  till  he  comes  to  take  them, 
and  spear  him.  Many  of  the  Arabs  believe  firmly  in  the  cannibal 
propensity  of  the  Manyuema.  Others  who  have  lived  long  among 
them,  and  are  themselves  three-fourths  African  blood,  deny  it.  I 
suspect  that  this  idea  must  go  into  oblivion  with  those  of  people  who 
have  no  knowledge  of  fire,  of  the  Suj^reme  Being,  or  of  language. 
The  country  abounds  in  food, — goats,  sheep,  fowls,  buffaloes,  and 
elephants :  maize,  holcuserghum,  cassaba,  sweet  potatoes,  and  other 
farinaceous  eatables,  and  with  ground-nuts,  palm-oil,  palms  and  other 
fat-yielding  nuts,  bananas,  plantains,  sugar-cane  in  great  plenty.  So 
there  is  little  inducement  to  eat  men,  but  I  wait  for  further  evidence. 

"  Not  knowing  how  your  head  has  fared,  I  sometimes  feel  greatly 
distressed  about  you,  and  if  I  could  be  of  any  use  I  would  leave  my 
work  unfinished  to  aid  you.  But  you  will  have  every  medical  assist- 
ance that  can  be  rendered,  and  I  cease  not  to  beg  the  Lord  who  healeth 
His  people  to  be  gracious  to  your  infirmity. 

"  The  object  of  my  expedition  is  the  discovery  of  the  sources  of 
the  Nile.  Had  I  known  all  the  hardships,  toil,  and  time  involved  I 
would  have  been  of  the  mind  of  Saint  Mungo  of  Glasgow,  of  whom  the 
song  says  that  he  let  the  Molendinar  Burn  '  rin  by,'  when  he  could  get 
something  stronger.  I  would  have  let  the  sources  '  rin  by '  to  Egj^pt, 
and  never  been  made  '  drumly '  by  my  plashing  through  them.  But 
I  shall  make  this  country  and  people  better  known.  '  This,'  Professor 
Owen  said  to  me,  '  is  the  first  step ;  the  rest  will  in  due  time  follow.' 
By  diff"erent  agencies  the  Great  Ruler  is  bringing  all  things  into  a 
focus.  Jesus  is  gathering  all  things  unto  Himself,  and  He  is  daily 
becoming  more  and  more  the  centre  of  the  world's  hopes  and  of  the 
world's  fears.  War  brought  freedom  to  4,000,000  of  the  most  hope- 
less and  helpless  slaves.  The  world  never  saw  such  fiendishness  as 
that  with  which  the  Southern  slaveocracy  clung  to  slavery.  No  power 
in  this  world  or  the  next  would  ever  make  them  relax  their  iron  grasp. 
The  lie  had  entered  into  their  soul.     Their  cotton  Avas  Kins;.     With  it 


1 869-7  I.J  MANYUEMA.  395 

they  would  force  England  and  France  to  make  them  independent, 
because  without  it  the  English  and  French  must  starve.  Instead  of 
being  made  a  nation,  they  made  a  nation  of  the  North.  War  has 
elevated  and  purified  the  Yankees,  and  now  they  have  the  gigantic 
task  laid  at  their  doors  to  elevate  and  purify  4,000,000  of  slaves.  I 
earnestly  hope  that  the  Northerners  may  not  be  found  Avanting  in 
their  portion  of  the  superhuman  work.  The  day  for  Africa  is  yet  to 
come.  Possibly  the  freed  men  may  be  an  agency  in  elevating  their 
Fatherland. 

"  England  is  in  the  rear.  This  affair  in  Jamaica  brought  out  the 
fact  of  a  large  infusion  of  bogiephobia  in  the  English.  Frightened  in 
early  years  by  their  mothers  with  'Bogie  Blackman,'  they  were 
terrified  out  of  their  wits  by  a  riot,  and  the  sensation  writers,  who  act 
the  part  of  the  '  dreadful  boys '  who  frighten  aunts,  yelled  out  that 
emancipation  Avas  a  mistake.  '  The  Jamaica  negroes  were  as  savage  as 
when  they  left  Africa.'  They  might  have  put  it  much  stronger  by 
saying,  as  the  rabble  that  attended  Tom  Sayers's  funeral,  or  that  collects 
at  every  execution  at  NeAvgate.  But  our  golden  age  is  not  in  the  past. 
It  is  in  the  future, — in  the  good  time  coming  yet  for  Africa  and  for 
the  world. 

"  The  task  I  undertook  was  to  examine  the  watershed  of  South 
Central  Africa.  This  was  the  way  Sir  Eoderick  put  it,  and  though 
he  mentioned  it  as  the  wish  of  the  Geographical  Council,  I  suspect 
it  was  his  own  idea ;  for  two  members  of  the  Society  wrote  out  '  in- 
structions'  for  me,  and  the  Avatershed  Avas  not  mentioned.  But 
scientific  words  were  used  Avhich  the  writers  evidently  did  not  under- 
stand. 

"  The  examination  of  the  AA^atershed  contained  the  true  scientific 
mode  of  procedure,  and  Sir  Roderick  said  to  me  :  '  You  Avill  be  the 
discoverer  of  the  sources  of  the  Nile.'  I  shaped  my  course  for  a  path 
across  the  north  end  of  Lake  Nyassa,  but  to  avoid  the  certainty  of 
seeing  all  my  attendants  bolting  at  the  first  sight  of  the  Avild  tribes 
there,  the  Nindi,  I  changed  off  to  go  round  the  south  end,  and  if  not, 
cross  the  middle.  What  I  feared  for  the  north  took  place  in  the 
south  Avhen  the  Johanna  men  heard  of  the  Mazitu,  though  Ave  were 
150  miles  from  the  marauders,  and  I  offered  to  go  due  west  till 
past  their  beat.  They  Avere  terrified,  and  ran  aAA^ay  as  soon  as  they 
saAV  my  face  turned  Avest.  I  got  carriers  from  village  to  village,  and 
got  on  nicely  Avith  people  Avho  had  never  engaged  in  the  slave-trade ; 
but  it  Avas  sloAV  Avork.  I  came  very  near  to  the  Mazitu  three  times, 
but  obtained  information  in  time  to  avoid  them.  Once  Ave  Avere  taken 
for  Mazitu  ourselves,  and  surrounded  by  a  croAvd  of  excited  savages. 
They  produced  a  state  of  confusion  and  terror,  and  men  fled  hither 
and  thither  Avith  the  fear  of  death  on  them.  Casembe  Avould  not  let 
me  go  into  his  southern  district  till  he  had  sent  men  to  see  that  the 
Mazitu,  or,  as  they  are  called  in  Lunda,  the  Watuta,  had  left.  Where 
they  had  been  all  the  food  Avas  swept  off,  and  Ave  suffered  cruel  hunger. 


396  DA  VI D  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xx. 

We  had  goods  to  buy  with,  but  the  people  had  nothing  to  sell,  and 
were  living  on  herbs  and  mushrooms.  I  had  to  feel  every  step  of  the 
way,  and  generally  was  groping  in  the  dark.  No  one  knew  anything 
beyond  his  own  district,  and  who  cared  where  the  rivers  ran  ? 
Casein  be  said,  when  I  was  going  to  Lake  Bangweolo:  'One  piece  of  water 
was  just  like  another  (it  is  the  Bangweolo  water),  but  as  your  chief 
desired  you  to  visit  that  one,  go  to  it.  If  you  see  a  travelling  party 
going  north,  join  it.  If  not,  come  back  to  me  and  I  will  send  you 
safely  along  my  path  by  JMoero ; '  and  gave  me  a  man's  load  of  a  fish 
like  whitebait.  I  gradually  gained  more  light  on  the  country,  and 
slowly  and  surely  saw  the  problem  of  the  fountains  of  the  Nile  de- 
veloping before  my  eyes.  The  vast  volume  of  water  draining  away  to 
the  north  made  me  conjecture  that  I  had  been  working  at  the  sources 
of  the  Congo  too.  My  present  trij)  to  JVIanyuema  proves  that  all  goes 
to  the  river  of  Egypt.  In  fact,  the  head-waters  of  the  Nile  are 
gathered  into  two  or  three  arms,  very  much  as  Avas  depicted  by  Ptolemy 
in  the  second  century  of  our  era.  ^Yhat  we  moderns  can  claim  is  re- 
discovery of  what  had  fallen  into  oblivion,  like  the  circumnavigation 
of  iVfrica  by  the  Phoenician  admiral  of  one  of  the  Pharaohs  B.C.  600. 
He  Avas  not  believed,  because  'he  had  the  sun  on  his  right  hand  in 
going  round  from  cast  to  west.'  Though  to  us  this  stamps  his  tale  as 
genuine,  Ptolemy  was  not  believed,  because  his  sources  were  between 
10  and  12  north  latitude,  and  collected  into  two  or  three  great  head 
branches.     In  my  opinion  his  informant  must  have  visited  them. 

"  I  cared  nothing  for  money,  and  contemplated  spending  my 
life  as  a  hard-working  poor  missionary.  By  going  into  the  country 
beyond  Kuruman  we  pleased  the  Directors,  but  the  praises  they 
bestowed  excited  envy.  Mamma  and  you  all  had  hard  times.  The 
missionaries  at  Kuruman,  and  south  of  it,  had  comfortable  houses  and 
gardens.  They  could  raise  wheat,  jiumpkins,  maize,  at  very  small  ex- 
pense, and  their  gardens  yielded  besides  apples,  pears,  apricots,  peaches, 
quinces,  oranges,  grapes,  almonds,  walnuts,  and  all  vegetables,  for 
little  more  than  the  trouble  of  watering.  A  series  of  droughts  compelled 
us  to  send  for  nearly  all  our  food  270  miles  off.  Instead  of  help  we 
had  to  pay  the  uttermost  farthing  for  everything,  and  got  bitter  envy 
besides.  Many  have  thought  that  I  was  inflated  by  the  praises  I  had 
lavished  upon  me,  but  I  made  it  a  rule  never  to  read  anything  of 
praise.  I  am  thankful  that  a  kind  Providence  has  enabled  me  to  do 
what  Avill  reflect  honour  on  my  children,  and  show  myself  a  stout- 
hearted servant  of  Him  from  Avhom  comes  every  gift.  None  of  you 
must  become  mean,  craven -hearted,  untruthful,  or  dishonest,  for  if  you 
do,  3^ou  don't  inherit  it  from  me.  I  hope  that  you  have  selected  a 
profession  that  suits  your  taste.  It  will  make  you  hold  up  your  head 
among  men,  and  is  your  most  serious  duty.  I  shall  not  live  long,  and 
it  would  not  be  well  to  rely  on  my  influence.  I  could  help  you  a 
little  while  living,  but  have  little  else  than  Avhat  people  call  a  great 
name  to  bequeath  afterwards.      I  am    nearly  toothless,  and  in   my 


1869-71-]  MANYUEMA.  397 

second  childhood.  The  green  maize  was  in  one  part  the  only  food  we 
could  get  with  any  taste.  I  ate  the  hard  fare,  and  was  once  horrified 
by  finding  most  of  my  teeth  loose.  They  never  fastened  again,  and 
generally  became  so  loose  as  to  cause  pain.  I  had  to  extract  them, 
and  did  so  by  putting  on  a  strong  thread  Avith  what  sailors  call  a 
clovehitch,  tie  the  other  end  to  a  stump  above  or  below,  as  the  tooth 
Avas  upper  or  lower,  strike  the  thread  Avith  a  heavy  pistol  or  stick,  and 
the  tooth  dangled  at  the  stump,  and  no  pain  Avas  felt.  Two  upi^er 
front  teeth  are  thus  out,  and  so  many  more,  I  shall  need  a  whole  set 
of  artificials.  I  may  here  add  that  the  Manyuema  stole  the  bodies  of 
slaves  Avhich  Avere  buried,  till  a  threat  Avas  used.  They  said  the 
hyenas  had  exhumed  the  dead,  but  a  slave  AA^as  cast  out  by  BanyamAvezi, 
and  neither  hyenas  nor  men  touched  it  for  seven  days.  The  threat  Avas 
effectual.  I  think  that  they  are  cannibals,  but  not  ostentatiously  so. 
The  disgust  expressed  by  native  traders  has  made  them  ashamed. 
Women  never  partook  of  human  flesh.  Eating  sokos  or  gorillas 
must  have  been  a  step  in  the  process  of  teaching  them  to  eat  men. 
The  sight  of  a  soko  nauseates  me.  He  is  so  hideously  ugly,  I  can 
conceive  no  other  use  for  him  than  sitting  for  a  portrait  of  Satan.  I 
have  lost  many  months  by  rains,  refusal  of  my  attendants  to  go  into  a. 
canoe,  and  irritable  eating  ulcers  on  my  feet  from  wading  in  mud. 
instead  of  sailing.  They  are  frightfully  common,  and  often  kill  slaves. 
I  am  recovering,  and  hope  to  go  down  Lualaba,  which  I  would  call 
Webb  River  or  Lake ;  touch  then  another  Lualaba,  Avhich  I  Avill  name 
Young's  River  or  Lake;  and  then  by  the  good  hand  of  our  Father  above 
turn  liomeAvards  through  KaragAve.  As  ivory  trading  here  is  like 
gold-digging,  I  felt  constrained  to  offer  a  handsome  sum  of  money 
and  goods  to  my  friend  Mohamad  Bogharib  for  men.  It  Avas  better  to 
do  this  than  go  back  to  Ujiji,  and  then  come  over  the  Avhole  2 GO 
miles.  I  Avould  have  Avaited  there  for  men  from  Zanzibar,  but  the 
authority  at  Ujiji  behaved  so  oddly  about  my  letters,  I  fear  they 
never  Avent  to  the  coast.  The  Avorthless  slaves  I  have  saAV  that  I  Avas 
at  their  mercy,  for  no  Manyuema  Avill  go  into  the  next  district,  and 
they  behaved  as  low  savages  Avho  have  been  made  free  alone  can. 
Their  eagerness  to  enslave  and  kill  their  oAvn  countrymen  is  dis- 
tressing. .  .  . 

"  Give  my  love  to  Oswell  and  Anna  Mary  and  the  Aunties.  I 
have  received  no  letter  from  any  of  you  since  I  left  home.  The  good 
Lord  bless  you  all,  and  be  gracious  to  you. — Affectionately  yours, 

"  David  Livingstone." 

Another  letter  is  addressed  to  Sir  Thomas  Maclear 
and  Mr.  Mann,  September  1869.  He  enters  at  con- 
siderable length  into  his  reasons  for  the  supposition  that 
he  had  discovered,  on  the  Avatershed,  the  true  sources  of 


398  BA  VID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xx. 

the  Nile.  He  refers  in  a  generous  spirit  to  the  discoveries 
of  other  travellers,  mistaken  though  he  regarded  their 
views  on  the  sources,  and  is  particularly  complimentary 
to  Miss  Tinne  : — 

"  A  Dutch  lady  whom  I  never  saw,  and  of  whom  I  know  nothing 
save  from  scraps  in  the  newspapers,  moves  my  sympathy  more  than 
any  other.  By  her  wise  foresight  in  providing  a  steamer,  and  pushing 
on  up  the  river  after  the  severest  domestic  affliction — the  loss  by 
fever  of  her  two  aunts — till  after  she  was  assured  by  Speke  and 
Grant  that  they  had  already  discovered  in  Victoria  Nyanza  the  sources 
she  sought,  she  proved  herself  a  genuine  explorer,  and  then  by  trying 
to  go  s.w.  on  laiKl.  Had  they  not,  honestly  enough  of  course,  given 
her  their  mistaken  views,  she  must  inevitably,  by  boat  or  on  land,  have 
reached  the  head-waters  of  the  Nile.  I  cannot  conceive  of  her 
stopping  short  of  Bangweolo.  She  showed  such  indomitable  pluck 
she  must  be  a  descendant  of  Van  Tromp,  who  swept  the  English 
Channel  till  killed  by  our  Blake,  and  whose  tomb  every  Englishman 
who  goes  to  Holland  is  sure  to  visit. 

"  We  great  he-beasts  say,  '  Exploration  was  not  becoming  her  sex.' 
Well,  considering  that  at  least  1600  years  have  elapsed  since  Ptolemy's 
informants  reached  this  region,  and  kings,  emperors,  and  all  the  great 
men  of  antiquity  longed  in  vain  to  know  the  fountains,  exploration 
does  not  seem  to  have  become  the  other  sex  either.  She  came  much 
further  up  than  the  two  centurions  sent  by  Nero  Caesar. 

"  I  have  to  go  down  and  see  Avhere  the  two  arms  unite — the  lost 
city  Meroe  ought  to  be  there, — then  get  back  to  Ujiji  to  get  a  supply 
of  goods  Avhich  I  have  ordered  from  Zanzibar,  turn  bankrupt  after  I 
secure  them,  and  let  my  creditors  catch  me  if  they  can,  as  I  finish  up  • 
by  going  round  outside  and  south  of  all  the  sources,  so  that  I  may  be 
sure  no  one  will  cut  me  out  and  say  he  found  other  sources  south  of 
mine.  This  is  one  reason  for  my  concluding  trip ;  another  is  to  visit 
the  underground  houses  in  stone,  and  the  copper  mines  of  Katanga 
which  have  been  Avorked  for  ages  (Malachite).  I  have  still  a  seriously 
long  task  before  me.  My  letters  have  been  delayed  inexplicably,  so  I 
don't  know  my  affairs.  If  I  have  a  salary  I  don't  know  it,  though  the 
Daily  Telegraph  abused  me  for  receiving  it  Avhen  I  had  none.  Of  this 
alone  I  am  sure — my  friends  will  all  wish  me  to  make  a  complete 
work  of  it  before  I  leave,  and  in  their  wish  I  join.  And  it  is  better  to 
go  in  now  than  to  do  it  in  vain  afterwards." 

*'  I  have  still  a  seriously  long  task  before  me."  Yet 
he  had  lately  been  worse  in  health  and  weaker  than  he 
had  ever  been  ;  he  was  much  poorer  than  he  expected  to 
be,  and  the  difficulties  had  proved  far  beyond  any  he  had 


1869-7 1.]  MANYUEMA.  399 

hitherto  experienced.  But  so  far  from  thinking  of  taking 
things  more  easily  than  before,  he  actually  enlarges  his 
programme,  and  resolves  to  "  finish  up  by  going  round 
outside  and  south  of  all  the  sources."  His  spirit  seems 
only  to  rise  as  difficulties  are  multiplied. 

He  writes  to  his  daughter  Agnes  at  the  same  time  : 
"  You  remark  that  you  think  you  could  have  travelled  as 
well  as  Mrs.  Baker,  and  I  think  so  too.  Your  mamma 
was  famous  for  roughing  it  in  the  bush,  and  was  never  a 
trouble."  The  allusion  carries  him  to  old  days — their 
travels  to  Lake  'Ngami,  Mrs.  Livingstone's  death,  the 
Helmores,  the  Bishop,  Thornton.  Then  he  speaks  of 
recent  troubles  and  difficulties,  his  attack  of  pneumonia, 
from  which  he  had  not  expected  to  recover,  his  annoy- 
ances with  his  men,  so  unlike  the  old  Makololo,  the  loss 
of  his  letters  and  boxes,  with  the  exception  of  two  from 
an  unknown  donor  that  contained  the  Saturday  Review 
and  his  old  friend  Punch  for  1868.  Then  he  goes  over 
African  travellers  and  their  achievements,  real  and  sup- 
posed. He  returns  again  to  the  achievements  of  ladies, 
and  praises  Miss  Tinne  and  other  women.  "  The  death- 
knell  of  American  slavery  was  rung  by  a  woman's  hand. 
We  great  he-beasts  say  Mrs.  Stowe  exaggerated.  From 
what  I  have  seen  of  slavery  I  say  exaggeration  is  a  simple 
impossibility.  I  go  with  the  sailor  who,  on  seeing  slave- 
traders,  said  :  '  If  the  devil  don't  catch  these  fellows,  we 
miarht  as  well  have  no  devil  at  all.'  " 

o 

The  year  1870  was  begun  Avith  the  prayer  that  in 
the  course  of  it  he  might  be  able  to  complete  his  enter- 
prise, and  retire  through  the  Basango  before  the  end  of  it. 
In  February  he  hears  with  gratitude  of  Mr.  E.  D.  Young's 
Search  Expedition  up  the  Shire  and  Nyassa.  In  setting 
out  anew  he  takes  a  more  northerly  course,  proceeding 
through  paths  blocked  with  very  rank  vegetation,  and 
suffering  from  choleraic  illness  caused  by  constant  wet- 
tings.    In  the  course  of  a  month  the  effects  of  the  wet 


400  DA  VID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xx. 

became  overpowering,  and  on  7th  February  Dr.  Living- 
stone had  to  go  into  winter  quarters.  He  remained 
quiet  till  2Gth  June. 

In  April  1870,  from  "  Manyuema  or  Cannibal  Country, 
say  150  miles  N.w.  of  ITjiji,"  he  began  a  letter  to  Sir 
Ptoderick  Murchison,  but  changed  its  destination  to  his 
brother  John  in  Canada.  He  notices  his  immediate 
object — to  ascertain  Avhere  the  Lualaba  joined  the  eastern 
branch  of  the  Nile,  and  contrasts  the  lucid  reasonable 
problem  set  him  by  Sir  Boderick  with  the  absurd 
instructions  he  had  received  from  some  members  of  the 
Geographical  Society,  "  I  was  to  furnish  '  a  survey  on 
successive  pages  of  my  journal,'  '  latitudes  every  night,' 
*  hydrography  of  Central  Africa,'  and  because  they  voted 
one-fifth  or  perhaps  one-sixth  part  of  my  expenses,  give 
them  '  all  my  notes,  copies  if  not  the  originals  I'  For 
mere  board  and  no  lodgings  I  was  to  work  for  years 
and  hand  over  the  results  to  them."  Contrasted  with 
such  absurdities.  Sir  Koderick's  proposal  had  quite 
fascinated  him.  He  had  ascertained  that  the  watershed 
extended  800  miles  from  west  to  east,  and  had  traversed 
it  in  every  direction,  but  at  a  cost  which  had  been 
wearing  out  both  to  mind  and  body.  He  drops  a  tear 
over  the  Universities  Mission,  but  becomes  merry  over 
Bishop  Tozer  strutting  about  with  his  crosier  at  Zanzibar, 
and  in  a  fine  clear  day  getting  a  distant  view  of  the 
continent  of  which  he  claimed  to  be  Bishop.  He 
denounces  the  vile  policy  of  the  Portuguese,  and  laments 
the  indecision  of  some  influential  persons  who  A'irtually 
upheld  it.  He  is  tickled  with  the  generous  ofler  of  a 
small  salary,  when  he  should  settle  somewhere,  that  had 
been  made  to  him  by  the  Government,  while  men  who 
liad  risked  nothing  were  getting  handsome  salaries  of  far 
greater  amount ;   but  rather  than  sacrifice  the  good  of 

I  Africa,  HE   WOULD   SPEND   EVERY  PENNY   OF  HIS   PRIVATE 

MEANS.     He  seems  surrounded  by  a  whole  sea  of  difti- 


1S69-71.]  MANYUEMA.  401 

cnlties,  but  through  all,  the  nobility  of  his  spirit  shines 
undimmed.  To  persevere  in  the  line  of  duty  is  his  only 
conceivable  course.  He  holds  as  firmly  as  ever  by  the 
old  anchor — "  All  will  turn  out  right  at  last." 

When  ready  they  set  out,  on  26th  June.  Most  of 
his  people  failed  him ;  but  nothing  daunted,  he  set  oft' 
then  with  only  three  attendants,  Susi,  Chuma,  and 
Gardner,  to  the  north-west  for  the  Lualaba.  Whenever  he 
comes  among  Arab  traders  he  finds  himself  suspected  and 
hated  because  he  is  known  to  condemn  their  evil  deeds. 

The  difficulties  by  the  way  were  terrible.  Fallen  trees 
and  flooded  rivers  made  marching  a  perpetual  straggle. 
For  the  first  time,  Livingstone's  feet  failed  him.  Instead 
of  healing  as  hitherto,  when  torn  by  hard  travel,  irritat- 
ing sores  fastened  upon  them,  and  as  he  had  but  three 
attendants,  he  had  to  limp  back  to  Bambarre,  which  he 
reached  in  the  middle  of  July. 

And  here  he  remained  in  his  hut  for  eighty  days, 
till  10th  October,  exercising  patience,  harrowed  by  the 
wickedness  he  could  not  stop,  extracting  information 
from  the  natives,  thinking  about  the  fountains  of  the 
Nile,  trying  to  do  some  good  among  the  people,  listening 
to  accounts  of  soko-hunting,  and  last,  not  least,  reading 
his  Bible.  He  did  not  leave  Bambarre  till  16th  February 
1871.  From  what  he  had  seen  and  what  he  had  heard 
he  was  more  and  more  persuaded  that  he  was  among  the 
true  fountains  of  the  Nile.  His  reverence  for  the  Bible 
gave  that  river  a  sacred  character,  and  to  throw  fight  on 
its  origin  seemed  a  kind  of  religious  act.  He  admits, 
however,  that  he  is  not  quite  certain  about  it,  though  he 
does  not  see  how  he  can  be  mistaken.  He  dreams  tiiat 
in  his  early  life  Moses  may  have  been  in  these  parts,  and 
if  he  should  only  discover  any  confirmation  of  sacred 
history  or  sacred  chronology  he  would  not  grudge  all  the 
toil  and  hardship,  the  pain  and  hunger,  he  had  undergone. 
The  very  spot  where  the  fountains  are  to  be  found  becomes 


402  DA  VID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xx. 

defined  in  his  mind.  He  even  drafts  a  despatch  which  he 
hopes  to  write,  saying  that  the  fountains  are  within  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  of  each  other  ! 

Then  he  bethinks  him  of  his  friends  who  have  done 
noble  battle  with  slavery,  and  half  in  fancy,  half  in 
earnest,  attaches  their  names  to  the  various  waters.  The 
fountain  of  the  Liambai  or  Upper  Zambesi  he  names 
Palmerston  Fountain,  in  fond  remembrance  of  that  good 
man's  long-  and  unwearied  labour  for  the  abolition  of  the 
slave-trade.  The  lake  formed  by  the  Lufira  is  to  be 
Lincoln  Lake,  in  gratitude  to  him  who  gave  freedom  to 
four  millions  of  slaves.  The  fountain  of  Lufira  is  associated 
with  Sir  Bartle  Frere,  who  accomplished  the  grand  work 
of  abolishing  slavery  in  Sindia  in  UjDper  India.  The 
central  Lualaba  is  called  the  Kiver  Webb,  after  the 
warm-hearted  friend  under  whose  roof  he  wrote  The 
Zambesi  and  its  Tributaries ;  while  the  western  branch 
is  named  the  Young  River,  to  commemorate  his  early 
instructor  in  chemistry  and  life-long  friend,  James 
Young.  "  He  has  shed  pure  white  light  in  many  loAvly 
cottages  and  in  some  rich  palaces.  I  too  have  shed 
light  of  another  kind,  and  am  fain  to  believe  that  I  have 
performed  a  small  part  in  the  grand  revolution  which 
our  Maker  has  been  for  ages  carrying  on,  by  multitudes 
of  conscious  and  many  unconscious  agents,  all  over  the 
world.  "^ 

He  is  by  no  means  unaware  that  death  may  be  in  the 
cup.  But,  fortified  as  he  was  by  an  unalterable  convic- 
tion that  he  was  in  the  line  of  duty,  the  thought  of 
death  had  no  influence  to  turn  him  either  to  the  rio-ht 
hand  or  to  the  left.  For  the  first  three  years  he  had 
had  a  strong  presentiment  that  he  would  fall.  But  it 
had  passed  away  as  he  came  near  the  end,  and  now 
he  prayed  God  that  when  he  retired  it  might  be  to 
liis  native  home. 

^  See  Lad  Journals,  vol.  ii.  pp.  65,  66. 


1869-7 1  •]  MANYUEMA.  403 

Probably  no  human  being  M-as  ever  in  circumstances 
parallel  to  those  in  which  Livingstone  now  stood.  Years 
had  passed  since  he  had  heard  from  home.  The  sound  of 
his  mother  tongue  came  to  him  only  in  the  broken  sen- 
tences of  Chum  a  or  Susi  or  his  other  attendants,  or  in  the 
echoes  of  his  own  voice  as  he  pom^ed  it  out  in  prayer,  or 
in  some  cry  of  home-sickness  that  could  not  be  kept  in. 
In  long  pain  and  sickness  there  had  been  neither  wife  nor 
child  nor  brother  to  cheer  him  with  symj)athy,  or  lighten 
his  dull  hut  with  a  smile.  He  had  been  baffled  and 
tantalised  beyond  description  in  his  efibrts  to  complete 
the  little  bit  of  exploration  which  was  yet  necessary  to 
finish  his  task.  His  soul  was  vexed  for  the  frio-htful 
exhibitions  of  wickedness  around  him,  where  "man  to 
man,"  instead  of  brothers,  were  worse  than  wolves  and 
tigers  to  each  other.  During  all  his  past  life  he  had 
been  sowing  his  seed  weeping,  but  so  far  was  he  from 
bringing  back  his  sheaves  rejoicing,  that  the  longer  he 
lived  the  more  cause  there  seemed  for  his  tears.  He  had 
not  yet  seen  of  the  travail  of  his  soul.  In  opening  Africa 
he  had  seemed  to  open  it  for  brutal  slave-traders,  and  in 
the  only  instance  in  which  he  had  yet  brought  to  it  the 
feet  of  men  "  beautiful  upon  the  mountains,  publishing- 
peace,"  disaster  had  befallen,  and  an  incompetent  leader 
had  broken  up  the  enterprise.  Yet,  apart  from  his  sense  of 
duty,  there  was  no  necessity  for  his  remaining  there.  He 
was  offering  himself  a  freewill- offering,  a  living  sacrifice. 
What  could  have  sustained  his  heart  and  kept  him  firm 
to  his  purpose  in  such  a  wilderness  of  desolation  ? 

"  I  read  the  whole  Bible  throuo-h  four  times  whilst  I 
was  in  Manyuema." 

So  he  wrote  in  his  Diary,  not  at  the  time,  but  the 
year  after,  on  3d  October  1871.^  The  Bible  gathers 
wonderful  interest  from  the  circumstances  in  which  it 
is  read.      In  Livinofstone's    circumstances    it    was    more 

^  See  Last  Journals,  vol.  ii.  p.  154. 


404  BA  VID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xx. 

the  Bible  to  him  than  ever.  All  his  loneliness  and 
sorrow,  the  sickness  of  hope  deferred,  the  yearnings 
for  home  that  could  neither  be  repressed  nor  gratified, 
threw  a  new  light  on  the  Word.  Hoav  clearly  it  was 
intended  for  such  as  him,  and  how  sweetly  it  came 
home  to  him !  How  faithful  too  were  its  pictures 
of  human  sin  and  sorrow  !  How  true  its  testimony 
against  man,  who  will  not  retain  God  in  his  knowledge, 
but,  leaving  Him,  becomes  vain  in  his  imaginations  and 
hard  in  his  heart,  till  the  bloom  of  Eden  is  gone,  and  a 
waste  howling  wilderness  spreads  around  !  How  glorious 
the  out-beaming  of  Divine  Love,  drawing  near  to  this 
guilty  race,  winning  and  cherishing  them  with  every 
endearing  act,  and  at  last  dying  on  the  cross  to  redeem 
them  !  And  how  bright  the  closing  scene  of  Revelation 
— the  new  heaven  and  the  new  earth  wherein  dwelleth 
righteousness— yes,  he  can  appreciate  tliat  attribute — - 
the  curse  gone,  death  abolished,  and  all  tears  wiped  from 
the  mourner's  eye  ! 

So  the  lonely  man  in  his  dull  hut  is  riveted  to  the 
well-worn  book ;  ever  finding  it  a  greater  treasure  as  he 
goes  along ;  and  fain,  when  he  has  reached  its  last  page, 
to  turn  back  to  the  beginning,  and  gather  up  more  of 
the  riches  which  he  has  left  upon  the  road. 

To  Sir  Thomas  Maclear  and  Mr.  Mann  he  writes 
during  his  detention  (September  1870)  on  a  leaf  of  his 
cheque-book,  his  paper  being  done.  He  gives  his  theory 
of  the  rivers,  enlarges  on  the  fertility  of  the  country, 
bewails  his  difficulty  in  getting  men,  as  the  Manyuema 
never  go  beyond  their  own  country,  and  the  traders,  who 
have  only  begun  to  come  there,  are  too  busy  collecting 
ivory  to  be  able  to  spare  men.  "  The  tusks  were  left  in 
the  terrible  forests,  where  the  animals  were  killed ;  the 
people,  if  treated  civilly,  readily  go  and  bring  the  precious 
teeth,  some  half  rotten,  or  gnawed  by  the  teeth  of  a 
rodent  called  dezi.     I  think  that  mad  naturalists  name  it 


1S69-71.]  MANYUEMA.  405 

Aulocaudatus  Swindermanus,  or  some  equally  wise  agglu-  \y 
tination  of  syllables.  .  .  .  My  chronometers  are  all  dead ;  I 
hope  my  old  watch  was  sent  to  Zanzibar ;  but  I  have  got/ 1 
no  letters  for  years,  save  some,  three  years  old,  at  Ujiji. 
I  have  an  intense  and  sore  longing  to  finish  and  retire, 
and  trust  that  the  Almighty  may  permit  me  to  go  home." 

In  one  of  his  letters  to  Agnes  from  Manyuema  he 
quotes  some  words  from  a  letter  of  hers  that  he  ever 
after  cherished  as  a  most  refreshing  cordial : — 

"  I  commit  myself  to  the  Almighty  Disposer  of  events, 
and  if  I  fall,  will  do  so  doing  my  duty,  like  one  of  His 
stout-hearted  servants.  I  am  delighted  to  hear  you  say 
that,  much  as  you  wish  me  home,  you  w^ould  rather  hear 
of  my  finishing  my  Avork  to  my  own  satisfaction  than 
come  merely  to  gratify  you.  That  is  a  noble  sentence, 
and  I  felt  all  along  sure  that  all  my  friends  would  wish 
me  to  make  a  complete  work  of  it,  and  in  that  wish,  in 
spite  of  every  difficulty,  I  cordially  joined.  I  hope  to 
23resent  to  my  young  countrymen  an  example  of  manly 
perseverance.  I  shall  not  hide  from  you  that  I  am  made 
by  it  very  old  and  shaky,  my  cheeks  fallen  in,  space  round 
the  eyes  ditto  ;  mouth  almost  toothless, — a  few  teeth  that 
remain,  out  of  their  line,  so  that  a  smile  is  that  of  a  he- 
hippopotamus, — a  dreadful  old  fogie,  and  you  must  tell 
Sir  Roderick  that  it  is  an  utter  impossibility  for  me  to 
appear  in  public  till  I  get  new  teeth,  and  even  then  the 
less  I  am  seen  the  better." 

Another  letter  to  Agnes  from  Manyuema  gives  a 
curious  account  of  the  young  soke  or  gorilla  a  chief  had 
lately  presented  to  him  : — 

"  She  sits  crouching  eighteen  inches  high,  and  is  the  most  intelli- 
gent and  least  mischievous  of  all  the  monkeys  I  have  seen.  She 
holds  out  her  hand  to  be  lifted  and  carried,  and  if  refused  makes  her 
face  as  in  a  bitter  human  weeping,  and  wrings  her  hands  quite 
humanly,  sometimes  adding  a  foot  or  third  hand  to  make  the  appeal 
more  touching.  .  .  .  She  knew  me  at  once  as  a  friend,  and  when  plagued 
by  any  one  always  jDlaced  her  back  to  me  for  safety,  came  and  sat  down 


4o6  DA  VID  LIVINGSTONK  [chap.  xx. 

on  my  mat,  decently  made  a  nest  of  grass  and  leaves,  and  covered 
herself  with  the  mat  to  sleep.  I  cannot  take  her  with  me,  though  I 
fear  that  she  will  die  before  I  return,  from  people  plaguing  her.  Her 
fine  long  black  hair  was  beautiful  when  tended  by  her  mother,  who 
was  killed.  I  am  mobbed  enough  alone ;  two  sokos — she  and  I — 
would  not  have  got  breath. 

"  I  have  to  submit  to  be  a  gazing-stock.  I  don't  altogether  relish 
it,  here  or  elsewhere,  but  try  to  get  over  it  good-naturedly,  get  into 
the  most  shady  spot  of  the  village,  and  leisurely  look  at  all  my 
admirers.  When  the  first  crowd  begins  to  go  away,  I  go  into  my 
lodgings  to  take  what  food  may  be  prepared,  as  coffee,  when  I  have  it, 
or  roasted  maize  infusion  Avhen  I  have  none.  The  door  is  shut,  all 
save  a  space  to  admit  light.  It  is  made  of  the  inner  bark  of  a  gigantic 
tree,  not  a  cjuarter  of  an  inch  thick,  and  slides  in  a  groove  behind  a 
post  on  each  side  of  the  doorway.  AVhen  partially  ojjen  it  is  snpported 
by  only  one  of  the  posts.  Eager  heads  sometimes  crowd  the  open 
space,  and  crash  goes  the  thin  door,  landing  a  Manyuema  beauty  on 
the  floor.  '  It  was  not  I,'  she  gasps  out,  '  it  was  Bessie  Bell  and 
Jeanie  Gray  that  shoved  me  in,  and — '  as  she  scrambles  out  of  the 
lion's  den,  '  see  they  're  laughing ; '  and,  fairly  out,  she  joins  in  the 
merry  giggle  too.  To  avoid  darkness  or  being  half-smothered,  I  often 
oat  in  public,  draw  a  line  on  the  ground,  then  '  toe  the  line,'  and  keep 
them  out  of  the  circle.  To  see  me  eating  with  knife,  fork,  and  spoon 
is  wonderful.  '  See  ! — they  don't  touch  their  food  ! — Avhat  oddities,  to 
be  sure.'  .  .  . 

*'  Many  of  the  Manyuema  women  are  very  pretty ;  their  hands, 
feet,  limbs,  and  form  are  pei:fect.  The  men  ai-e  handsome.  Compared 
with  them  the  Zanzibar  slaves  are  like  London  door-knockers,  which 
some  atrocious  iron-founder  thought  Avere  like  lions'  faces.  The  way 
in  which  these  same  Zanzibar  Mohammedans  murder  the  men  and  seize 
the  women  and  children  makes  me  sick  at  heart.  It  is  not  slave-trade. 
It  is  murdering  free  people  to  make  slaves.  It  is  perfectly  indescrib- 
able. Kirk  has  been  Avorking  hard  to  get  this  murdersome  system 
put  a  stop  to.  Heaven  prosper  his  noble  eff"orts !  He  says  in  one  of 
his  letters  to  me, — '  It  is  monstrous  injustice  to  comj^are  the  free 
people  in  the  interior,  living  under  their  own  chiefs  and  laAvs,  Avith 
Avhat  slaves  at  Zanzibar  afterwards  become  by  the  abominable  system 
Avhich  robs  them  of  their  manhood.  I  think  it  is  like  comj)aring  the 
anthropologists  Avith  their  ancestral  sokos.'  .  .  . 

"  I  am  grieved  to  hear  of  the  departure  of  good  Lady  Murchison. 
Had  I  knoAvn  that  she  kindly  remembered  me  in  her  prayers,  it  Avould 
liave  been  great  encouragement.  .  .  . 

"  The  men  sent  by  Dr.  Kirk  are  Mohammedans,  that  is,  unmitigated 
liars.  Musa  and  his  companions  are  fair  specimens  of  the  lower  class 
of  Moslems.  The  tAvo  head-men  remained  at  Ujiji,  to  feast  on  my 
■  goods,  and  get  pay  Avithout  Avork.  Seven  came  to  Bambarre,  and  in 
true  Moslem  style  swore  that  they  Avere  sent  by  Dr.  Kirk  to  bring  me 


1S69-71.]  MANYUEMA,  a'^1 

back,  not  to  go  -with  me,  if  the  country  were  bad  or  dangerous.  For- 
■\vai'd  they  -woukl  not  go.  I  read  Dr.  Kirk's  words  to  them  to  follow 
Avheresoever  I  led.  '  No,  by  the  old  liar  IMohamed,  they  were  to  force 
me  back  to  Zanzibar.'  After  a  superabundance  of  falsehood,  it  turned 
out  that  it  all  meant  only  an  advance  of  pay,  though  they  had  double 
the  Zanzibar  Avages.  I  gave  it,  but  had  to  threaten  on  the  word  of  an 
Englishman  to  shoot  the  ringleaders  before  I  got  them  to  go.  They 
all  speak  of  English  as  men  Avho  do  not  lie.  ...  I  have  travelled 
more  than  most  people,  and  with  all  sorts  of  followers.  The  Christians 
of  Kuruman  and  Kolobeng  were  out  of  sight  the  best  I  ever  had. 
The  Makololo,  who  were  very  ^jartially  christianised,  were  next  best — 
honest,  truthful,  and  brave.  Heathen  Africans  are  much  superior 
to  the  Mohamedans,  who  are  the  most  worthless  one  can  have." 

Towards  the  end  of  1870,    before  the  date   of  this 

letter,  he  had  so  far  recovered  that,  though  feeling  the 

Avant  of  medicine    as    much    as   of  men,   he  thought   of 

setting  out,  in  order  to  reach  and  explore  the  Lualaba, 

having  made  a   bargain   with    Mohamad,    for    £270,    to 

brino'  him  to  his  destination.     But    now  he  heard  that 

o 

Syde  bin  Habib,  Dugumbe,  and  others  were  on  the  way 
from  Ujiji,  perhaps  bringing  letters  and  medicmes  for 
him.  He  cannot  move  till  they  arrive ;  another  weary 
time.      "  Sorely  am  I  perplexed,  and  grieve  and  mourn." 

The  New  Year  1871  passes  while  he  is  at  Bambarre, 
with  its  prayer  that  he  might  be  pennitted  to  finish  his 
task.  At  last,  on  4th  February,  ten  of  the  men  de- 
spatched to  him  from  the  coast  arrive,  but  only  to  bring 
a  fresh  disappointment.  They  were  slaves,  the  property 
of  Banians,  who  were  British  subjects  !  and  they  brought 
only  one  letter !  Forty  had  been  lost.  There  had  been 
cholera  at  Zanzibar,  and  many  of  the  porters  sent  by 
Dr.  Kirk  had  died  of  it.  The  ten  men  came  with  a  He 
in  then'  mouth ;  they  would  not  help  hun,  swearing  that 
the  Consul  told  them  not  to  go  foru-ard,  but  to  force 
Livmgstone  back.  On  the  10th  they  mutinied,  and  had 
to  receive  an  advance  of  pay.  It  was  apparent  that  they 
had  been  instructed  by  their  Banian  masters  to  baffle 
him  in  every  way,  so  that  their  slave-trading  should  not 
be  injured  by  his  disclosures.     Their  two  headmen,  Shereef 


4o8  £>A  VID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xx. 

and  Awathe,  had  refused  to  come  farther  than  Ujiji,  and 
were  revelUng  in  his  goods  there.  Dr.  Livingstone  never 
ceased  to  lament  and  deplore  that  the  men  who  had  been 
sent  to  him  were  so  utterly  unsuitable.  One  of  them 
actually  formed  a  plot  for  his  destruction,  which  was  only 
frustrated  through  his  being  overheard  by  one  whom 
Livlnofstone  could  trust.  Livinofstone  wrote  to  his  friends 
that  owing  to  the  inefficiency  of  the  men,  he  lost  two 
years  of  time,  about  a  thousand  pounds  in  money,  had 
some  2000  miles  of  useless  travelling,  and  was  four  several 
times  subjected  to  the  risk  of  a  violent  death. 

At  length,  having  arranged  with  the  men,  he  sets  out 
on  16th  February  over  a  most  beautiful  country,  but  woe- 
fully difficult  to  pass  through.  Perhaps  it  was  hardly  a 
less  bitter  disappointment  to  be  told,  on  the  25th,  that 
the  Lualaba  flowed  west-south-west,  so  that  after  all  it 
might  be  the  Congo. 

On  the  29  th  March  Livingstone  arrived  at  Nyangwe 
on  the  banks  of  the  Lualaba.  This  was  the  farthest  point 
westward  that  he  reached  in  his  last  expedition. 

The  slave-trade  here  he  finds  to  be  as  horrible  as  in 
any  other  part  of  Africa.  He  is  heart-sore  for  human 
blood.  He  is  threatened,  bullied,  and  almost  attacked. 
In  some  places,  however,  the  rumour  spreads  that  he 
makes  no  slaves,  and  he  is  called  "  the  good  one."  His 
men  are  a  ceaseless  trouble,  and  for  ever  mutinying,  or 
otherwise  harassing  him.  And  yet  he  perseveres  in  his 
old  kind  way,  hoping  by  kindness  to  gain  influence  with 
them.  Mohamad's  people,  he  finds,  have  passed  him  on 
the  west,  and  thus  he  loses  a  number  of  serviceable  articles 
he  was  to  get  from  them,  and  all  the  notes  made  for 
him  of  the  rivers  they  had  passed.  The  difficulties  and 
discouragements  are  so  great  that  he  wonders  whether, 
after  all,  God  is  smiling  on  his  work. 

His  own  men  circulate  such  calumnious  reports  against 
him  that  he  is  unable  to  get  canoes  for  the  navigation  of 


1869-71.]  ■  MANYUEMA.  409 

the  Lnalaba.  This  leads  to  weeks  and  months  of  weary 
waiting,  and  yet  all  in  vain  ;  but  afterwards  he  finds 
some  consolation  on  discovering  that  the  navigation  was 
perilous,  that  a  canoe  had  been  lost  from  the  inexperience 
of  her  crew  in  the  rapids,  so  that  had  he  been  there, 
he  should  very  likely  have  perished,  as  his  canoe  would 
probably  have  been  foremost. 

A  change  of  plan  was  necessary.  On  5th  July  he 
offered  to  Diigumbe  £400,  with  all  the  goods  he  had 
at  Ujiji  besides,  for  men  to  replace  the  Banian  slaves, 
and  for  the  other  means  of  going  up  the  Lomame  to 
Katanga,  then  returning  and  going  up  Tanganyika  to 
Ujiji.  Dugumbe  took  a  little  time  to  consult  his  friends 
before  replying  to  the  offer. 

Meanwhile  an  event  occurred  of  unprecedented  horror, 
that  showed  Livingstone  that  he  could  not  go  to  Lomame 
in  the  company  of  Dugumbe.  Between  Dugumbe's 
people  and  another  chief  a  frightful  system  of  pillage, 
murder,  and  burning  of  villages  was  going  on  with 
horrible  activity.  One  bright  summer  morning,  15th 
July,  when  fifteen  hundred  people,  chiefly  women,  were 
engaged  peacefully  in  marketing  in  a  village  on  the  banks 
of  the  Lualaba,  and  while  Dr.  Livingstone  was  sauntering 
about,  a  murderous  fire  was  opened  on  the  people,  and  a 
massacre  ensued  of  such  measureless  atrocity  that  he 
could  describe  it  only  by  saying  that  it  gave  him  the 
impression  of  being  in  hell.  The  event  was  so  superla- 
tively horrible,  and  had  such  an  overwhelming  influence 
on  Livingstone,  that  we  copy  at  full  length  the  descrip- 
tion of  it  given  in  the  Last  Journals : — • 

"  Before  I  had  got  thirty  yards  out,  the  discharge  of  two  guns  in 
the  middle  of  the  crowd  told  me  that  slaughter  had  begun  :  crowds 
dashed  otF  from  the  place,  and  threw  down  their  wares  in  confusion, 
and  ran.  At  the  same  time  that  the  three  opened  fire  on  the  mass  of 
people  near  the  upper  end  of  the  market-place,  volleys  were  discharged 
from  a  party  down  near  the  creek  on  the  panic-stricken  Avomen,  who 
dashed  at  the  canoes.     These,  some  fifty  or  more,  were  jammed  in  the 


4IO  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xx. 

creek,  and  the  men  forgot  their  paddles  in  the  terror  that  seized  all. 
The  canoes  were  not  to  be  got  out,  for  the  creek  was  too  small  for  so 
many  ;  men  and  w^  omen,  wounded  by  the  balls,  poured  into  them,  and 
leaped  and  scrambled  into  the  water,  shrieking.  A  long  line  of  heads 
in  the  river  showed  that  great  numbers  struck  out  for  an  island  a  full 
mile  off;  in  going  towards  it  they  had  to  i)ut  the  left  shoulder  to  a 
current  of  about  two  miles  an  hour ;  if  they  had  struck  away 
diagonally  to  the  opposite  bank,  the  cuiTent  would  have  aided  them, 
and,  though  nearly  three  miles  off,  some  would  have  gained  land ;  as 
it  was,  the  heads  above  water  showed  the  long  line  of  those  that 
would  inevitably  perish. 

"  Shot  after  shot  continued  to  be  fired  on  the  helpless  and  perish- 
ing. Some  of  the  long  line  of  heads  disappeared  c[uietly ;  whilst 
other  poor  creatures  threw  their  arms  high,  as  if  appealing  to  the 
great  Father  above,  and  sank.  One  canoe  took  in  as  many  as  it  could 
hold,  and  all  jiaddled  Avith  hands  and  arms ;  three  canoes,  got  out  in 
haste,  picked  up  sinking  friends,  till  all  Avent  down  together,  and  dis- 
appeared. One  man  in  a  long  canoe,  which  could  have  held  forty  or 
fifty,  had  clearly  lost  ^his  head  ;  he  had  been  out  in  the  stream  before 
the  massacre  began,  and  now  paddled  up  the  river  nowhere,  and  never 
looked  to  the  drowning.  By  and  by  all  the  heads  disappeared  ;  some 
had  turned  down  stream  towards  the  bank,  and  escaped.  Dugumbe 
put  people  into  one  of  the  deserted  vessels  to  save  those  in  the  water, 
and  saved  tw^enty-one ;  but  one  woman  refused  to  be  taken  on  board, 
from  thinking  that  she  was  to  be  made  a  slave  of;  she  preferred  the 
chance  of  life  by  SAvimming,  to  the  lot  of  a  slave.  The  Bagenya 
Avomen  are  expert  in  the  Avater,  as  they  are  accustomed  to  dive  for 
oysters,  and  those  Avho  Avent  down  stream  may  have  escaped,  but  the 
Arabs  themselves  estimated  the  loss  of  life  at  betAveen  330  and  400 
souls.  The  shooting-party  near  the  canoes  were  so  reckless,  they 
killed  tAvo  of  their  own  people  ;  and  a  BanyamAvezi  follower,  A\'ho  got 
into  a  deserted  canoe  to  plunder,  fell  into  the  Avater,  went  down,  then 
came  up  again,  and  down  to  rise  no  more. 

"  After  the  terrible  affair  in  the  Avater,  the  party  of  Tagamoio,  who 
Avas  the  chief  perpetrator,  continued  to  fire  on  the  people  there,  and 
fire  their  villages.  As  I  Avrite  I  hear  the  loud  Avails  on  the  left  bank 
over  those  Avho  are  there  slain,  ignorant  of  their  many  friends  now  in 
the  depths  of  Lualaba.  Oh,  let  Thy  kingdom  come  !  Xo  one  will  ever 
know  the  exact  loss  on  this  bright  sultry  summer  morning ;  it  gave  me 
the  impression  of  being  in  Hell.  All  the  slaves  in  the  camp  rushed  at 
the  fugitives  on  land,  and  plundered  them  ;  women  were  for  hours  col- 
lecting and  carrying  loads  of  Avhat  had  been  throAvn  doAvu  in  terror." 

The  remembrance  of  this  awful  scene  was  never  effaced 
from  Livingstone's  heart.  The  accounts  of  it  pubHshed 
in  the  newspapers  at  home  sent  a  thrill  of  horror  through 


1869-71.]  MANYUEMA,  411 

the  country.  It  was  recorded  at  great  length  in  a 
despatch  to  the  Foreign  Secretary,  and  indeed,  it  became 
one  of  the  chief  causes  of  the  appointment  of  a  Royal 
Commission  to  investigate  the  subject  of  the  African 
slave-trade,  and  of  the  mission  of  Sir  Bartle  Frere  to 
Africa  to  concert  measures  for  bringing  it  to  an  end. 

Dugumbe  had  not  been  the  active  -perpetrator  of  the 
massacre,  but  he  was  mixed  up  with  the  atrocities  that 
had  been  committed,  and  Livingstone  could  have  nothing 
to  do  with  him.  It  was  a  great  trial,  for,  as  the  Banian 
men  were  impracticable,  there  was  nothing  for  it  now  but 
to  go  back  to  Ujiji,  and  try  to  get  other  men  there  with 
whom  he  would  repeat  the  attempt  to  explore  the  river. 
For  twenty-one  months,  counting  from  the  period  of 
their  engagement,  he  had  fed  and  clothed  these  men, 
all  in  vain,  and  now  he  had  to  trudge  back  forty- 
five  days,  a  journey  equal,  with  all  its  turnings  and 
windings,  to  six  hundred  miles.  Livingstone  was  ill,  and 
after  such  an  exciting  time  he  would  probably  have  had 
an  attack  of  fever,  but  for  another  ailment  to  which  he 
had  become  more  especially  subject.  The  intestinal  canal 
had  given  way,  and  he  was  subject  to  attacks  of  severe 
internal  hgemorrhage,  one  of  which  came  on  him  now.^  It 
appeared  afterwards  that  had  he  gone  with  Dugumbe, 
he  would  have  been  exjDOsed  to  an  assault  in  force  by  the 
Bakuss,  as  they  made  an  attack  on  the  j)arty  and  routed 
them,  killing  two  hundred.  If  Livingstone  had  been 
among  them,  he  might  have  fallen  in  this  engagement.  So 
again,  he  saw  how  present  disappointments  work  for  good. 

The  journey  back  to  Ujiji,  begun  20tli  July  1871,  was 
a  very  wretched  one.  Amid  the  universal  desolation 
caused  by  the  very  wantonness  of  the  marauders,  it  was 
impossible  for  Livingstone  to  persuade  the  natives  that 
he   did  not  belong  to  the  same   set.     Ambushes  were 

*  His  friends  say  that  for  a  considerable  time  before  he  had  been  subject  to  the 
most  grievous  pain  from  hsemorrhoids.     His  sufferings  were  often  excruciating. 


412  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xx. 

set  for  lilm  and  his  company  in  the  forest.  On  the 
8th  August  they  came  to  an  ambushment  all  prepared, 
but  it  had  been  abandoned  for  some  unknown  reason. 
By  and  by,  on  the  same  day,  a  large  spear  flew  past 
Livingstone,  grazing  his  neck ;  the  native  who  flung 
it  M-as  but  ten  yards  off;  the  hand  of  God  alone  saved 
his  life.^  Farther  on,  another  spear  was  thrown,  which 
missed  him  by  a  foot.  On  the  same  day,  a  large  tree,  to 
which  fire  had  been  applied  to  fell  it,  came  down  within 
a  yard  of  him.  Thus  on  one  day  he  was  delivered  three 
times  from  impending  death.  He  went  on  through  the 
forest,  expecting  every  minute  to  be  attacked,  having  no 
fear,  but  perfectly  indifterent  whether  he  should  be  killed 
or  not.  *  He  lost  all  his  remaining  calico  that  day,  a  tele- 
scope, umbrella,  and  five  spears.  By  and  by  he  was 
prostrated  with  grievous  illness.  As  soon  as  he  could 
move  he  went  onwards,  but  he  felt  as  if  dying  on  his  feet. 
And  he  was  ill-riofcred  for  the  road,  for  the  lio-ht  French 
shoes  to  which  he  was  reduced,  and  which  had  been  cut 
to  ease  his  feet  till  they  would  hardly  hang  together, 
failed  to  protect  him  from  the  sharp  fragments  of  cjuartz 
with  which  the  road  was  strewed.  He  was  getting  near 
to  Ujiji,  however,  wdiere  abundance  of  goods  and  comforts 
w^ere  no  doubt  safely  stowed  away  for  him,  and  the  hope 
of  relief  sustained  him  under  all  his  trials. 

At  last,  on  the  23d  October,  reduced  to  a  living- 
skeleton,  he  reached  Ujiji.  What  was  his  misery,  instead 
of  finding  the  abundance  of  goods  he  had  expected,  to 
learn  that  the  wretch  Shereef,  to  whom  they  had  been 
consigned,  had  sold  off  the  whole,  not  leaving  one  yard  of 
calico  out  of  3000,  or  one  string  of  beads  out  of  700 
pounds  !  The  scoundrel  had  divined  on  the  Koran,  found 
that  Livingstone  was  dead,  and  would  need  the  goods  no 
more.  Livingstone  had  intended,  if  he  could  not  get  men 
at  Ujiji  to  go  with  him  to  the  Lualaba,  to  wait  there  till 

^  The  head  of  this  spear  is  among  the  Livingstone  relics  at  Newstead  Abbey. 


1869-71.]  MANYUEMA. 


413 


suitable  men  should  be  sent  up  from  the  coast ;  but  he 
had  never  thought  of  having  to  wait  in  beggary.  If  any- 
thing could  have  aggravated  the  annoyance,  it  was  to  see 
Shereef  come,  without  shame,  to  salute  him,  and  tell  him 
on  leaving,  that  he  was  going  to  pray  ;  or  to  see  his  slaves 
passing  from  the  market  with  all  the  good  things  his 
property  had  bought !  Livingstone  applied  a  term  to 
him  which  he  reserved  for  men — black  or  white — whose 
Avickedness  made  them  alike  shameless  and  stupid — he 
was  a  "moral  idiot." 

It  was  the  old  story  of  the  traveller  who  fell  among 
thieves  that  rol)bed  him  of  all  he  had; — but  where  was  the 
good  Samaritan  ?  The  Government  and  the  Geograjohical 
Society  appeared  to  have  passed  by  on  the  other  side.  But 
the  good  Samaritan  was  not  so  far  off  as  might  have  been 
thought.  One  morning  Syed  bin  Majid,  an  Arab  trader, 
came  to  him  with  a  generous  offer  to  sell  some  ivory  and 
get  goods  for  him ;  but  Livingstone  had  the  old  feeling 
of  independence,  and  having  still  a  few  barter  goods  left, 
Avhich  he  had  deposited  with  Mohamad  bin  Saleh  before 
going  to  Manyuema,  he  declined  for  the  present  Syed's 
generous  offer.  But  the  kindness  of  Syed  was  not  the 
only  proof  that  he  was  not  forsaken.  Five  days  after  he 
reached  Ujiji  the  good  Samaritan  appeared  from  another 
quarter.  As  Livingstone  had  been  approaching  Ujiji 
from  the  south-west,  another  white  man  had  been 
ap]3roaching  it  from  the  east.  On  28th  October  1871, 
Henry  Moreland  Stanley,  who  had  been  sent  to  look 
for  him  by  Mr.  James  Gordon  Bennett,  junior,  of  the  New 
Yorh  Herald  newspaper,  grasped  the  hand  of  David  Living- 
stone. An  angel  from  heaven  could  hardly  have  been  more 
welcome.  In  a  moment  the  sky  brightened.  Stanley 
was  provided  with  ample  stores,  and  was  delighted 
to  supply  the  wants  of  the  traveller.  The  sense  of  sym- 
pathy, the  feeling  of  brotherhood,  the  blessing  of  fellow- 
ship, acted  like  a  charm.     Four  good  meals  a  day,  instead 


414  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xx. 

of  the  spare  and  tasteless  food  of  the  country,  made  a 
wonderful  change  on  the  outer  man ;  and  in  a  few  days 
Livingstone  was  himself  again — hearty,  and  happy,  and 
hopeful  as  before. 

Before  closing  this  chapter  and  entering  on  the  last 
two  years  of  Livingstone's  life,  which  have  so  lively  an 
interest  of  their  own,  it  will  be  convenient  to  glance  at  the 
contributions  to  natural  science  which  he  continued  to 
make  to  the  very  end.  In  doing  this,  we  avail  ourselves 
of  a  very  tender  and  Christian  tribute  to  the  memory  of 
his  early  friend,  which  Professor  Owen  contributed  to  the 
Quarterly  Review,  April  1875,  after  the  publication  of 
Livingstone's  Last  Journals. 

Mr.  Owen  appears  to  have  been  convinced  by  Living- 
stone's reasoning  and  observations,  that  the  Nile  sources 
v/ere  in  the  Bangweolo  watershed — a  supj^osition  now 
ascertained  to  have  been  erroneous.  But  what  chiefly 
attracted  and  delighted  the  great  naturalist  was  the 
many  interesting  notices  of  plants  and  animals  scattered 
over  the  Last  Journals.  These  Journals  contain  im- 
portant contributions  both  to  economic  and  j)hysiological 
botany.  In  the  former  department,  Livingstone  makes 
valuable  observations  on  plants  useful  in  the  arts,  such 
as  gum-copal,  papyrus,  cotton,  india-rubber,  and  the  palm- 
oil  tree  ;  while  in  the  latter,  his  notices  of  "  carnivorous 
plants,"  which  catch  insects  that  probably  yield  nourish- 
ment to  the  plant,  of  silicified  wood  and  the  like,  show 
how  carefully  he  watched  all  that  throws  light  on  the 
life  and  changes  of  plants.  In  zoology  he  was  never 
weary  of  observing,  esj)ecially  when  he  found  a  strange- 
looking  animal  with  strange  habits.  Spiders,  ants,  and 
bees  of  unknown  varieties  were  brought  to  light,  but  the 
strangest  of  his  new  acquaintances  w^ere  among  the  fishy 
tribes.  He  found  fish  that  made  long  excursions  on  land, 
thanks  to  the  wet  grass  through  wdiich  they  would 
wander  for  miles,  thus  proving  that  "  a  fish  out  of  water" 


1S69-71.]  MANYUEMA.  415 

is  not  always  the  best  symbol  for  a  man  out  of  his 
element.  There  were  fish  too  that  burrowed  in  the 
earth ;  but  most  remarkable  at  first  sight  were  the  fish 
that  appeared  to  bring  forth  their  young  by  ejecting  them 
from  their  mouths.  If  Bruce  or  Du  Chaillu  had  made 
such  a  statement,  remarks  Professor  Owen,  what  ridicule 
would  they  not  have  encountered  !  But  Livingstone  was 
not  the  man  to  make  a  statement  of  what  he  had  not 
ascertained,  or  to  be  content  until  he  had  found  a  scientific 
explanation  of  it.  He  found  that  in  the  branchial  open- 
ings of  the  fish,  there  occur  bags  or  pouches,  on  the  same 
principle  as  the  pouch  of  the  opossum,  where  the  young 
may  be  lodged  for  a  time  for  protection  or  nourishment, 
and  that  when  the  creatures  are  discharofed  throuofh  the 
mouth  into  the  Avater,  it  is  only  from  a  temporary  cradle 
where  they  were  probably  enjoying  repose,  beyond  the 
reach  of  enemies. 

Perhaps  the  greatest  of  Livingstone's  scientific  dis- 
coveries during  this  journey  was  that  '"'of  a  physical 
condition  of  the  earth's  surface  in  elevated  tracts  of  the 
great  continent,  unknown  before."  The  bogs  or  earth- 
sponges,  that  from  his  first  acquaintance  with  them  gave 
him  so  much  trouble,  and  at  last  proved  the  occasion  of 
his  death,  were  not  only  remarkable  in  themselves,  but 
interesting  as  probably  explaining  the  annual  inundations 
of  most  of  the  rivers.  Wherever  there  was  a  plain  sloping 
towards  a  narrow  opening  in  hills  or  higher  ground,  there 
were  the  conditions  for  an  African  sponge.  The  vegeta- 
tion falls  down  and  rots,  and  forms  a  rich  black  loam, 
resting  often,  two  or  three  feet  thick,  on  a  bed  of  pure 
river  sand.  The  early  rains  turn  the  vegetation  into  slush, 
and  fill  the  pools.  The  later  rains,  finding  the  pools 
ah'eady  full,  run  off  to  the  rivers,  and  form  the  inundation. 
The  first  rains  occur  south  of  the  equator  when  the  sun 
goes  vertically  over  any  spot,  and  the  second  or  greater 
rains  happen  in  his  course  north  again.     This,  certainly, 


41 6  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xx. 

was  the  case  as  observed  on  the  Zambesi  and  Shu-e,  and 
taking  the  different  times  for  the  sun's  passage  north  of 
the  equator,  it  explained  the  inundations  of  the  Nile. 

Such  notices  show  that  in  his  love  of  nature,  and  in 
his  careful  observation  of  all  her  agencies  and  processes, 
Livingstone,  in  his  last  journeys,  was  the  same  as  ever. 
He  looked  reverently  on  all  plants  and  animals,  and  on 
the  solid  earth  in  all  its  aspects  and  forms,  as  the  creatures 
of  that  same  God  whose  love  in  Christ  it  was  his  heart's 
delight  to  proclaim.  His  whole  life,  so  varied  in  its  out- 
ward employments,  yet  so  simple  and  transparent  in  its 
one  great  object,  was  ruled  by  the  conviction  that  the 
God  of  nature  and  the  God  of  revelation  were  one. 
While  thoroughly  enjoying  his  work  as  a  naturalist, 
Professor  Owen  frankly  admits  that  it  was  but  a  second- 
ary object  of  his  life.  "  Of  his  primary  work  the  record 
is  on  high,  and  its  imperishable  fruits  remain  on  earth. 
The  seeds  of  the  Word  of  Life  implanted  lovingly,  with 
pains  and  labour,  and  above  all  with  faith ; — the  out-door 
scenes  of  the  simple  Sabbath  service ;  the  testimony 
of  Him  to  whom  the  worship  was  paid,  given  in  terms  of 
such  simplicity  as  were  fitted  to  the  comprehension  of 
the  dark-skinned  listeners, — these  seeds  ^^■ill  not  have 
been  scattered  by  him  in  vain.  Nor  have  they  been  sown 
in  words  alone,  but  in  deeds,  of  which  some  part  of  the 
honour  Avill  redound  to  his  successors.  The  teaching  by 
forgiveness  of  injuries, — by  trust,  however  luiworthy  the 
trusted, — by  that  confidence  which  imputed  his  own 
noble  nature  to  those  whom  he  would  win,— by  the 
practical  enforcement  of  the  fact  that  a  man  might  promise 
and  perform — might  say  the  thing  he  meant, — of  this 
teaching  by  good  deeds,  as  well  as  by  the  words  of  truth 
and  love,  the  successor  who  treads  in  the  steps  of  Living- 
stone, and  accomplishes  the  discovery  he  aimed  at,  and 
pointed  the  way  to,  Avill  assuredly  reap  the  benefit."^ 

1  Quarterly  Uevitiv,  April  1S75,  pp.  498,  499. 


1871-72.]  LIVINGSTONE  AND  STANLEY. 


417 


CHAPTEE   XXL 

LIVINGSTONE     AND     STANLEY. 
A.D.  1871-1872. 

Mr.  Gordon  Bennett  sends  Stanley  in  search  of  Livingstone — Stanley  at 
Zanzibar — Starts  for  Ujiji  —  Reaches  Unyanycmbe  —  Dangerous  illness — 
War  between  Arabs  and  natives — Narrow  escajje  of  Stanley— Approach  to 
Ujiji — Meeting  with  Livingstone — Livingstone's  story — Stanley's  news — 
Livingstone's  goods  and  men  at  Bagamoio — Stanley's  account  of  Livingstone 
— Refutation  of  foolish  and  calumnious  charges— They  go  to  the  north  of  the 
lake— Livingstone  resolves  not  to  go  home,  but  to  get  fresh  men  and  return 
to  the  sources— Letter  to  Agnes — to  Sir  Thomas  Maclear — The  travellers  go 
to  Unyanyembe — More  plundering  of  stores— Stanley  leaves  for  Zanzibar — 
Stanley's  bitterness  of  heart  at  parting — Livingstone's  intense  gratitude  to 
Stanley— He  intrusts  his  Journal  to  him,  and  commissions  him  to  send 
servants  and  stores  from  Zanzibar — Stanley's  journey  to  the  coast — Finds 
Search  Expedition  at  Bagamoio — Proceeds  to  England — Stanley's  reception — 
Unpleasant  feelings — Eclaircissement — England  grateful  to  Stanley. 

The  meeting  of  Stanley  and  Livingstone  at  Ujiji  was  as 
unlikely  an  occurrence  as  could  have  happened,  and,  along 
with  many  of  the  earlier  events  in  Livingstone's  life,  serves 
to  show  how  wonderfully  an  Unseen  Hand  shaped  and 
guarded  his  path.  Neither  Stanley  nor  the  gentleman 
who  sent  him  had  any  personal  interest  in  Livingstone. 
Mr.  Bennett  admitted  frankly  that  he  was  moved  neither 
by  friendship  nor  philanthropy,  but  by  regard  to  his  -^ 
business  and  interest  as  a  journalist.  The  object  of  a 
journal  was  to  furnish  its  readers  with  the  news  which 
they  desired  to  know ;  the  readers  of  the  New  York 
Herald  desired  to  know  about  Livingstone  ;  as  a  jour- 
nalist, it  was  his  business  to  find  out  and  tell  them.     Mr. 

2  D 


4i3  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  [chap.  xxi. 

Bennett  determined  tliat,  cost  what  it  might,  he  would 
find  out,  and  give  the  news  to  his  readers.  These  were 
the  very  unromantic  notions,  with  an  under-current  pro- 
bably of  better  quality,  that  were  passing  through  his 
mind  at  Paris,  on  the  IGth  October  1869,  when  he  sent 
a  telegram  to  Madrid,  summoning  Henry  M.  Stanley, 
one  of  the  "  own  correspondents  "  of  his  paper,  to  "  come 
to  Paris  on  important  business."  On  his  arrival,  Mr. 
Bennett  asked  him  bluntly,  "  Where  do  you  think  Living- 
stone is  ? "  The  correspondent  could  not  tell — could  not 
even  tell  whether  he  was  alive.  "  Well,"  said  Mr.  Bennett, 
"  I  think  he  is  alive,  and  that  he  may  be  found,  and  I 
am  going  to  send  you  to  find  him."  Mr.  Stanley  was  to 
have  whatever  money  should  be  found  necessary  ;  only  he 
was  to  find  Livingstone.  It  is  very  mysterious  that  he 
was  not  to  go  straight  to  Africa — he  was  to  visit  Con- 
stantinople, Palestine,  and  Egypt  first.  Then,  from  India, 
he  was  to  go  to  Zanzibar ;  get  into  the  interior,  and  find 
him  if  alive ;  obtain  all  possible  news  of  his  discoveries  ; 
and  if  he  were  dead,  get  the  fact  fully  verified,  find  out 
the  place  of  his  burial,  and  try  to  obtain  possession  of  his 
bones,  that  they  m.ight  find  a  resting-place  at  home. 

It  was  not  till  January  1871  that  Stanley  reached 
Zanzibar.  To  organise  an  expedition  into  the  interior 
was  no  easy  task  for  one  who  had  never  before  set  foot 
in  Africa.  To  lay  all  his  plans  without  divulging  his 
object  would,  perhaps,  have  been  more  difficult  if  it  had 
ever  entered  into  any  man's  head  to  connect  the  New 
Yorl:  Herald  with  a  search  for  Livingstone.  But  indomi- 
table vigour  and  perseverance  succeeded,  and  by  the  end 
of  February  and  beginning  of  March,  one  hundred  and 
ninety-two  persons  in  all  had  started  in  five  caravans 
at  short  intervals  from  Bagamoio  for  Lake  Tanganyika, 
two  white  men  being  of  the  j)'irty  besides  Stanley,  with 
horses,  donkeys,  bales,  boats,  boxes,  rifles,  etc.,  to  an 
amount   that   made    the    leader    of  the    expedition   ask 


1S71-72.]  LIVINGSTONE  AND  STANIEY.  419 

himself  liow  such  an  enormoas  weight  of  material  could 
ever  be  carried  into  the  heart  of  Africa. 

The  ordinary  and  extraoi'dinary  risks  and  troubles  of 
travel  in  these  parts  fell  to  Mr.  Stanley's  lot  in  unstinted 
abundance.  But  when  Unyanyembe  was  reached,  the 
half-way  station  to  Ujiji,  troubles  more  than  extraordinary 
Ijefell.  First,  a  terrible  attack  of  fever  that  deprived  him 
of  his  senses  for  a  fortnight.  Then  came  a  worse  trouble. 
The  Arabs  were  at  w^ar  with  a  chief  Mirambo,  and  Stanley 
and  his  men,  believing  they  avouIcI  help  to  restore  peace 
more  speedily,  sided  with  the  Arabs.  At  first  they  were 
apparently  victorious,  but  immediately  after,  part  of  the 
Arabs  were  attacked  on  their  w^ay  home  by  Mirambo,  who 
lay  in  ambush  for  them,  and  were  defeated.  Great  con- 
sternation prevailed.  The  Arabs  retreated  in  panic, 
leaving  Stanley,  who  was  ill,  to  the  tender  mercies  of  the 
foe.  Stanley,  however,  managed  to  escape.  After  this 
experience  of  the  Arabs  in  war,  he  resolved  to  discontinue 
his  alliance  with  them.  As  the  usual  way  to  Ujiji  w^as 
blocked,  he  determined  to  try  a  route  more  to  the  south. 
But  his  people  had  forsaken  him.  One  of  his  two  Enghsh 
companions  was  dead,  the  other  was  sick  and  had  to  be 
sent  back.  Mirambo  was  still  threatening.  It  was  not 
till  the  20th  September  that  new  men  were  engaged  by 
Stanley,  and  his  party  were  ready  to  move. 

They  marched  slowly,  with  various  adventures  and 
difficulties,  until,  by  Mr.  Stanley's  reckoning,  on  the 
10th  November  (but  by  Livingstone's  earlier),  they  were 
close  on  Ujiji.  Their  approach  created  an  extraordinary 
excitement.  First  one  voice  saluted  them  in  English, 
then  another  ;  these  were  the  salutations  of  Livingstone's 
servants,  Susi  and  Chuma.  By  and  by  the  Doctor  him- 
self appeared.  "As  I  advanced  slowly  towards  him," 
says  Mr,  Stanley,  "  I  noticed  he  was  pale,  looked 
wearied,  had  a  grey  beard,  wore  a  bluish  cap  with  a 
flided  gold  band  round  it,  had  on  a  red-sleeved  waistcoat 


420  DA  VID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xxi. 

and  a  pair  of  grey  tweed  trousers.  I  would  have  run  to 
him,  only  I  was  a  coward  in  the  presence  of  such  a  mob, 
— would  have  embraced  him,  only  he,  being  an  English- 
man, I  did  not  know  how  he  would  receive  me ;  so  I  did 
what  cowardice  and  false  pride  suggested  was  the  best 
thing — walked  deliberately  to  him,  took  off  my  hat  and 
said,  '  Dr.  Livingstone,  I  presume  ? '  '  Yes,'  said  he,  with 
a  kind  smile,  lifting  his  cap  slightly.  I  replace  my  hat 
on  my  head,  and  he  puts  on  his  cap,  and  we  both  grasp 
hands,  and  I  then  say  aloud — '  I  thank  God,  Doctor,  I 
have  been  permitted  to  see  you.'  He  answered,  '  I  feel 
thankful  that  I  am  here  to  welcome  you.' " 

The  conversation  began — but  Stanley  could  not  re- 
member what  it  was.  "  I  found  myself  gazing  at  him, 
conning  the  wonderful  man  at  whose  side  I  now  sat  in 
Central  Africa.  Every  hair  of  his  head  and  beard,  every 
Avrinkle  of  his  face,  the  wanness  of  his  features,  and  the 
slightly  wearied  look  he  bore,  were  all  imparting  intelli- 
gence to  me — the  knowledge  I  craved  for  so  much  ever 
since  I  heard  the  words,  '  Take  what  you  want,  but  find 
Livingstone.'  What  I  saw  was  deejDly  interesting  intel- 
ligence to  me  and  unvarnished  truth.  I  was  listening 
and  reading  at  the  same  time.  What  did  these  dumb 
witnesses  relate  to  me  ? 

"  Oh,  reader,  had  you  been  at  my  side  on  this  day  in 
Ujiji,  how  eloquently  could  be  told  the  nature  of  this 
man's  work  !  Had  you  been  there  but  to  see  and  hear  ! 
His  lips  gave  me  the  details ;  lips  that  never  lie.  I 
cannot  repeat  what  he  SEiid;  I  was  too  much  engrossed 
to  take  my  note- book  out,  and  begm  to  stenograph  his 
story.  He  had  so  much  to  say  that  he  began  at  the  end, 
seemingly  oblivious  of  the  fact  that  five  or  six  yeai's  had 
to  be  accounted  for.  But  his  account  was  oozing  out ;  it 
was  growing  fast  into  grand  proportions — into  a  most 
marvellous  history  of  deeds." 

And  Stanley,   too,  had  wonderful  things  to  tell  the 


1S71-72.]  LIVINGSTONE  AND  STANLEY.  421 

Doctor.  "  The  news,"  says  Livingstone,  "  he  had  to  tell 
one  who  had  been  two  full  years  without  any  tidings 
from  Europe  made  my  whole  frame  thrill.  The  terrible 
fate  that  had  befallen  France,  the  telegraphic  cables  suc- 
cessfully laid  in  the  Atlantic,  the  election  of  General 
Grant,  the  death  of  good  Lord  Clarendon,  my  constant 
friend ;  the  proof  that  Her  Majesty's  Government  had 
not  forgotten  me  in  voting  £1000  for  supplies,  and  many 
other  points  of  interest,  revived  emotions  that  had  lain 
dormant  in  Manyuema."  As  Stanley  went  on,  Living- 
stone kept  saying,  "  You  have  brought  me  new  life — you 
have  brought  me  new  life." 

There  was  one  piece  of  news  brought  by  Stanley  to 
Livingstone  that  was  far  from  satisfactory.  At  Baga- 
moio,  on  the  coast,  Stanley  had  found  a  caravan  with 
supplies  for  Livingstone  that  had  been  despatched  from 
Zanzibar  three  or  four  months  before,  the  men  in  charge 
of  which  had  been  lying  idle  there  all  that  time  on  the . 
pretext  that  they  were  waiting  for  carriers.  A  letter- 
bag  was  also  lying  at  Bagamoio,  although  several 
caravans  for  Ujiji  had  left  in  the  meantime.  On  hearing 
that  the  Consul  at  Zanzibar,  Dr.  Kirk,  was  coming  to 
the  neighbourhood  to  hunt,  the  party  at  last  made  off. 
Overtaking  them  at  Unyanyembe,  Stanley  took  charge 
of  Livingstone's  stores,  but  was  not  able  to  bring  them 
on ;  only  he  compelled  the  letter-carrier  to  come  on  to 
Ujiji  with  his  bag.  At  what  time,  but  for  Stanley, 
Livingstone  would  have  got  his  letters,  which  after  all 
were  a  year  on  the  way,  he  could  not  have  told.  For  his 
stores,  or  such  fragments  of  them  as  might  remain,  he 
had  afterwards  to  trudge  all  the  way  to  Unyanyembe. 
His  letters  conveyed  the  news  that  Government  had 
voted  a  thousand  pounds  for  his  relief,  and  were  besides 
to  pay  him  a  salary.^     The  unpleasant  feeling  he  had  had 

^  The  intimation  of  salary  was  premature.     Livingstone  got  a  pension  of  £300 
afterwards,  which  lasted  only  for  a  j^ear  and  a  half. 


42  2  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xxi. 

so  long  as  to  liis  treatment  by  Government  was  thus  at 
last  somewhat  relieved.  But  the  goods  that  had  lain  in 
neglect  at  Bagamoio,  and  were  now  out  of  reach  at 
Unyanyembe,  represented  one-half  the  Government  grant, 
and  would  probably  be  squandered,  like  his  other  goods, 
before  he  could  reach  them. 

The  impression  made  on  Stanley  by  Livingstone  was 
remarkably  vivid,  and  the  portrait  drawn  by  the  American 
will  be  recognised  as  genuine  by  every  one  who  knows 
what  manner  of  man  Livinorstone  w^as  : — 


'O 


"  I  defy  any  one  to  be  in  his  society  long  without  thoroughly 
fathoming  him,  for  in  him  there  is  no  guile,  and  what  is  apparent  on 
the  surface  is  the  thing  that  is  in  him.  .  .  .  Dr.  Livingstone  is  about 
sixty  years  old,  thougli  after  he  was  restored  to  health  he  looked  like  a 
man  who  had  not  passed  his  fiftieth  year.  His  hair  has  a  brownish 
colour  yet,  but  is  here  and  there  streaked  with  grey  lines  over  the 
temples ;  his  beard  and  moustaches  are  very  grey.  His  eyes,  which 
are  hazel,  are  remarkably  bright ;  he  has  a  sight  keen  as  a  hawk's. 
His  teeth  alone  indicate  the  weakness  of  age ;  the  hard  fare  of  Lunda 
has  made  havoc  in  their  lines.  His  form,  which  soon  assumed  a 
stoutish  appearance,  is  a  little  over  the  ordinary  height,  with  the 
slightest  possible  bow  in  the  shoulders.  When  walking  he  has  a  firm 
but  heavy  tread,  like  that  of  an  overworked  or  fatigued  man.  He  is 
accustomed  to  wear  a  naval  Ciip  Avith  a  semicircular  peak,  by  which  he 
has  been  identified  throughout  Africa.  His  dress,  Avhen  first  I  saw  him, 
exhibited  traces  of  patching  and  repairing,  but  was  scrupulously  clean. 

"  I  was  led  to  believe  that  Livingstone  possessed  a  splenetic,  mis- 
anthropic temper ;  some  have  said  that  he  is  garrulous ;  that  he  is 
demented ;  tliat  he  has  utterly  changed  from  the  David  Livingstone 
whom  people  knew  as  the  reverend  missionary;  that  he  takes  no 
notes  or  observations  but  such  as  those  which  no  other  person  could 
read  but  himself,  and  it  was  rej^orted,  before  I  proceeded  to  Africa,  that 
he  was  married  to  an  African  princess. 

"  I  respectfully  beg  to  differ  with  all  and  each  of  the  above 
statements.  I  grant  he  is  not  an  angel ;  but  he  approaches  to  that 
being  as  near  as  the  nature  of  a  living  man  Avill  allow.  I  never  saw 
any  spleen  or  misanthropy  in  him :  as  for  being  garrulous.  Dr.  Living- 
stone is  quite  the  reverse;  he  is  reserved,  if  anything;  and  to  the  man 
who  says  Dr.  Livingstone  is  changed,  all  I  can  say  is,  that  he  never 
could  have  known  him,  for  it  is  notorious  that  the  Doctor  has  a  fund  of 
quiet  humour,  which  he  exhibits  at  all  times  when  he  is  among  friends." 
[After  repudiating  the  charge  as  to  his  notes  and  observations,  Mr. 
Stanley  continues :]  "  As  to  the  report  of  his  African  marriage,  it  is 


1871-72.]  LIVINGSTONE  AND  STANLEY.  423 

unnecessary  to  say  more  than  that  it  is  untrue,  and  it  is  utterly 
beneath  a  gentleman  even  to  hint  at  such  a  thing  in  connection  with 
the  name  of  Dr.  Livingstone. 

"You  may  take'  any  point  in  Dr.  Livingstone's  character,  and 
analyse  it  carefully,  and  I  would  challenge  any  man  to  find  a 
fault  in  it.  ,  .  .  His  gentleness  never  forsakes  him ;  his  hojiefulness 
never  deserts  him.  No  harassing  anxieties,  distraction  of  mind,  long 
separation  from  home  and  kindred,  can  make  him  complain.  He 
thinks  'all  will  come  out  right  at  last  j'  he  has  such  faith  in  the  good- 
ness of  Providence.  The  sport  of  adverse  circumstances,  the  plaything 
of  the  miserable  beings  sent  to  him  from  Zanzibar — he  has  been  baffled 
and  worried,  even  almost  to  the  grave,  yet  be  will  not  desert  the  charge 
imposed  upon  him  by  his  friend  Sir  Eoderick  Murchison.  To  the 
stern  dictates  of  duty,  alone,  has  he  sacrificed  his  home  and  ease,  the 
pleasures,  refinements,  and  luxuries  of  civilised  life.  His  is  the  Sjiartan 
heroism,  the  inflexibility  of  the  Eoman,  the  enduring  resolution  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon — never  to  relinquish  his  work,  though  his  heart  yearns 
for  home ;  never  to  surrender  his  obligations  until  he  can  write  riNiS 
to  his  Avork. 

"  There  is  a  good-natured  abandon  about  Livingstone  which  was 
not  lost  on  me.  AVhenever  he  began  to  laugh,  there  was  a  contagion 
about  it,  that  compelled  me  to  imitate  him.  It  Avas  such  a  laugh  as 
Teufelsdrockh's, — a  laugh  of  the  Avhole  man  from  head  to  heel.  If  he 
told  a  story,  he  related  it  in  such  a  way  as  to  convince  one  of  its 
truthfulness ;  his  face  was  so  lit  up  by  the  sly  fun  it  contained,  that  I 
was  sure  the  story  was  worth  relating,  and  Avorth  listening  to. 

"  Another  thing  that  specially  attracted  my  attention  aams  his  wonder- 
fully retentiA'e  memory.  If  Ave  remember  the  many  years  he  has  spent 
in  Africa,  deprived  of  books,  Ave  may  Avell  think  it  an  uncommon  memory 
that  can  recite  Avhole  poems  from  I3yron,  Burns,  Tennyson,  LongfelloAA'^, 
Whittier,  and  LoAvell.  .  .  . 

"  His  religion  is  not  of  the  theoretical  kind,  but  it  is  a  constant, 
earnest,  sincere  practice.  It  is  neither  demonstrative  nor  loud,  but 
manifests  itself  in  a  quiet,  practical  Avay,  and  is  always  at  work. 
It  is  not  aggressive,  AAdiich  sometimes  is  troublesome  if  not  impertinent. 
In  him  religion  exhibits  its  loveliest  features ;  it  governs  his  conduct 
not  only  toAvards  his  servants  but  toAvards  the  natives,  the  bigoted 
ISIohammedans,  and  all  Avho  come  in  contact  Avith  him.  Without  it, 
Livingstone,  Avith  his  ardent  temperament,  his  enthusiasm,  his  high 
spirit  and  courage,  must  have  become  uncompanionable,  and  a  hard 
master.  Religion  has  tamed  him,  and  made  him  a  Christian  gentle- 
man ;  the  crude  and  Avilful  have  been  refined  and  subdued ;  religion 
has  made  him  the  most  companionable  of  men  and  indulgent  of  masters 
— a  man  Avhose  society  is  pleasurable  to  a  degree.  .  .   . 

"  From  being  thAvarted  and  hated  in  every  possible  Avay  by  the 
Arabs  and  half-castes  upon  his  first  arrival  at  Ujiji,  he  has,  through  his 
uniform  kindness  and  mild,  pleasant  temper,  Avon  all  hearts.     I  obserA'ed 


424  DA  VID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xxi. 

that  universal  respect  was  jiaid  to  him.  Even  the  Mohammedans  never 
jiassed  his  house  without  calling  to  pay  their  compliments,  and  to 
say,  '  The  blessing  of  God  rest  on  you ! '  Each  Sunday  morning  he 
gathers  his  little  flock  around  him,  and  reads  j^rayers  and  a  chapter 
from  the  Bible,. in  a  natural,  unaffected,  and  sincere  tone;  and  after- 
Avards  delivers  a  short  address  in  the  Kisawahili  language,  about  the 
subject  read  to  them,  which  is  listened  to  with  evident  interest  and 
attention." 

It  was  agreed  that  tlie  two  travellers  sliould  make  a 
short  excursion  to  the  north  end  of  Lake  Tanganyika,  to 
ascertain  whether  the  lake  had  an  outlet  there.  This 
was  done,  but  it  was  found  that  instead  of  flowing  out,  the 
river  Lusize  flowed  into  the  lake,  so  that  the  notion  that 
the  lake  discharged  itself  northwards  turned  out  to  be  an 
error.  Meanwhile  the  future  arrangements  of  Dr.  Living- 
stone were  matter  of  anxious  consideration.  One  thmo;  was 
fixed  and  certam  from  the  beginning  :  Livingstone  would 
not  go  home  with  Stanley.  Much  though  his  heart  yearned 
for  home  and  family — all  the  more  that  he  had  just 
learned  that  his  son  Thomas  had  had  a  dangerous  accident, 
— and  much  though  he  needed  to  recruit  his  strength 
and  nurse  his  ailments,  he  would  not  tliink  of  it  while 
his  work  remained  unfinished.  To  turn  back  to  those 
di^eary  sponges,  sleej)  in  those  flooded  plains,  encounter 
anew  that  terrible  pneumonia  which  was  "worse  than,  ten 
fevers,"  or  that  distressmg  haemorrhage  which  added 
extreme  weakness  to  extreme  agony — might  have  turned 
any  heart ;  Livingstone  never  flinched  from  it.  What  a 
reception  awaited  him  if  he  had  gone  home  to  England ! 
What  welcome  from  friends  and  childi'en,  what  triumphal 
cheers  from  all  the  great  Societies  and  savants,  what 
honours  from  all  who  had  honours  to  confer,  what  oppor- 
tunity of  renewing  efforts  to  establish  missions  and 
commerce,  and  to  suppress  the  slave-traffic  I  Then  he 
might  return  to  Africa  in  a  year,  and  finish  his  work. 
If  Livingstone  had  taken  this  course,  no  wdiisper  would 
have  been  heard  against  it.     The  nobility  of  his   soul 


1871-72.]  LIVINGSTONE  AND  STANLEY.  425 

never  rose  higher,  his  utter  abandonment  of  self,  his 
entire  devotion  to  duty,  his  right  honourable  determina- 
tion to  work  while  it  was  called  to-day  never  shone  more 
brightly  than  when  he  declined  all  Stanley's  entreaties 
to  return  home,  and  set  his  face  steadfastly  to  go  back  to 
the  bogs  of  the  watershed.  He  writes  in  his  Journal : 
"  My  daughter  Agnes  says,  '  Much  as  I  wish  you  to  come 
home,  I  had  rather  that  you  finished  your  work  to  your 
own  satisfaction,  than  return  merely  to  gratify  me.' 
Kightly  and  nobly  said,  my  darling  Nannie  ;  vanity 
whispers  pretty  loudly,  '  She  is  a  chip  of  the  old  block.' 
My  blessing  on  her  and  all  the  rest." 

After  careful  consideration  of  various  plans,  it  was 
agreed  that  he  should  go  to  Unyanyembe,  accompanied 
by  Stanley,  who  would  supply  him  there  with  abundance 
of  goods,  and  who  would  then  hurry  down  to  the  coast, 
organise  a  new  expedition  composed  of  fifty  or  sixty 
faithful  men  to  be  sent  on  to  Unyanyembe,  by  whom 
Livingstone  would  be  accompanied  back  to  Bangweolo 
and  the  sources,  and  then  to  Rua,  mitil  his  work  should 
be  completed,  and  he  might  go  home  in  peace. 

A  few  extracts  from  Livingstone's  letters  will  show  us 
how  he  felt  at  this  remarkable  crisis.     To  Agnes  : — 

''Tanganyika,  18th  November  1871. — [After  detailing  his  troubles  in 
Manyuema,  the  loss  of  all  his  goods  at  Ujiji,  and  the  generous  offer  of 
Syed  bin  Majid,  he  continues  :]  Next  I  heard  of  an  Englishman  being 
at  Unyanyembe  with  boats,  etc.,  but  who  he  was,  none  could  tell.  At 
last  one  of  my  people  came  running  out  of  breath  and  shouted,  '  An 
Englishman  coming  ! '  and  off  he  darted  back  again  to  meet  him.  An 
American  flag  at  the  head  of  a  large  caravan  showed  the  nationality 
of  the  stranger.  Baths,  tents,  saddles,  big  kettles,  showed  that  he  was 
not  a  poor  Lazarus  like  me.  He  turned  out  to  be  Henry  M.  Stanley, 
travelling  correspondent  to  the  Neiv  York  Herald,  sent  specially  to  find 
out  if  I  Avere  really  alive,  and,  if  dead,  to  bring  home  my  bones.  He 
had  brought  abundance  of  goods  at  great  expense,  but  the  fighting 
referred  to  delayed  him,  and  he  had  to  leave  a  great  part  at  Unyanyembe. 
To  all  he  had  I  was  made  free.  [In  a  later  letter,  Livingstone  says : 
'  He  laid  all  he  had  at  my  service,  divided  his  clothes  into  two  heaps, 
and  pressed  one  heap  upon  me  ;  then  his  medicine-chest ;  then  Ms 


426  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE  [chap.  xxi. 

p;oods  and  everytliing  he  had,  and  to  coax  my  appetite,  often  cooked 
dainty  dishes  with  liis  own  hand.']  He  came  with  the  true  American 
characteristic  generosity.  The  tears  often  started  into  my  eyes  on 
every  fresh  proof  of  kindness.  My  appetite  returned,  and  I  ate  three 
or  four  times  a  day,  instead  of  scanty  meals  morning  and  evening.  I 
soon  felt  strong,  and  never  wearied  Avith  the  strange  news  of  Europe 
and  America  he  told.  The  tumble-down  of  the  French  Empire  was 
like  a  dream.  .  .  ." 

A  long  letter  to  his  friends  Sir  Thomas  Maclear  and 
Mr,  Mann  of  the  same  date  goes  over  his  travels  in 
Manyuema,  his  many  disasters,  and  then  his  wonderful 
meeting  with  Mr.  Stanley  at  Ujiji.  Speaking  of  the 
unwillinofness  of  the  natives  to  believe  in  the  true 
purpose  of  his  journey,  he  says  : — "  They  all  treat  me 
with  respect,  and  are  very  much  afraid  of  being  written 
against ;  but  they  consider  the  sources  of  the  Nile  to  be  a 
sham  ;  the  true  object  of  my  being  sent  is  to  see  their 
odious  system  of  slaving,  and  if  indeed  my  disclosures 
should  lead  to  the  suppression  of  the  East  Coast  slave-trade, 
I  would  esteem  that  as  afar  greater  feat  than  the  discovery 
of  all  the  sources  together.  It  is  a^\\ful,  but  I  cannot 
speak  of  the  slaving  for  fear  of  appearing  guilty  of 
exaggerating.  It  is  not  trading  ;  it  is  murdering  for 
captives  to  be  made  into  slaves."  His  account  of  himself 
in  the  journey  from  Nyangwe  is  dreadful  : — "  I  was  near 
a  fourth  lake  on  this  central  line,  and  only  eighty  miles 
from  Lake  Lincoln  on  our  west,  in  fact  almost  in  sight 
of  the  geographical  end  of  my  mission,  when  I  was 
forced  to  return  [through  the  misconduct  of  his  men] 
between  400  and  500  miles.  A  sore  heart,  made  still 
sorer  by  the  sad  scenes  I  had  seen  of  man's  inhumanity 
to  man,  made  this  march  a  terrible  tramp — the  sun 
vertical,  and  the  sore  heart  reacting  on  the  physical 
frame.  I  was  in  pain  nearly  every  step  of  the  way,  and 
arrived  a  mere  ruckle  of  bones  to  find  myself  destitute." 
In  speaking  of  the  impression  made  by  Mr.  Stanley's 
kindness  : — "  I  am  as  cold  and  non-demonstrative  as  we 


1871-72.]  LIVINGSTONE  AND  STANLEY.  427 

islanders  are  reputed  to  be,  but  this  kindness  was  over- 
whelming. Here  was  the  good  Samaritan  and  no  mistake. 
Never  was  I  more  hard  pressed  ;  never  was  help  more 
welcome." 

During  thirteen  months  Stanley  received  no  fewer 
than  ten  parcels  of  letters  and  papers  sent  up  by  Mr. 
Webb,  American  Consul  at  Zanzibar,  while  Livingstone 
received  but  one.  This  was  an  additional  ground  for  faith 
in  the  efficiency  of  Stanley's  arrangements. 

The  journey  to  Unyanyembe  was  somewhat  delayed 
by  an  attack  of  fever  which  Stanley  had  at  Ujiji,  and  it 
was  not  till  the  27th  December  that  the  travellers  set 
out.  On  the  way  Stanley  heard  of  the  death  of  his 
English  attendant  Shaw,  whom  he  had  left  unwell.  On 
the  18th  of  February  1872  they  reached  Unyanyembe, 
where  a  new  chapter  of  the  old  history  unfolded  itself 
The  survivor  of  two  headmen  employed  by  Ludha  Damji 
had  been  plundering  Livingstone's  stores,  and  had  broken 
open  the  lock  of  Mr.  Stanley's  store-room  and  plundered 
him  likewise.  Notwithstanding,  Mr.  Stanley  was  able  to 
give  Livingstone  a  large  amount  of  calico,  beads,  brass 
wire,  copper  sheets,  a  tent,  boat,  bath,  cooking-pots, 
medicine-chest,  tools,  books,  paper,  medicines,  cartridges 
and  shot.  This,  with  four  flannel  shirts  that  had  come 
from  Agnes,  and  two  pairs  of  boots,  gave  him  the  feeling 
of  being  quite  set  up. 

On  the  14th  of  March  Mr.  Stanley  left  Livingstone 
for  Zanzibar,  having  received  from  him  a  commission  to 
send  him  up  fifty  trusty  men,  and  some  additional  stores. 
Mr.  Stanley  had  authority  to  draw  from  Dr.  Kirk  the 
remaining  half  of  the  Government  grant,  but  lest  it 
should  have .  been  expended,  he  was  furnished  with  a 
cheque  for  5000  rupees  on  Dr.  Livingstone's  agents  at 
Bombay.  He  was  likewise  intrusted  with  a  large  folio 
MS.  volume  containing  his  journals  from  his  arrival  at 
Zanzibar,    28th   January    18GG    to    February    20,    1872, 


42  3  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xxi. 

wi'itten  out  with  all  his  characteristic  care  and  beauty. 
Another  instruction  had  been  laid  upon  him.  If  he 
should  find  another  set  of  slaves  on  the  way  to  him,  he 
was  to  send  them  back,  for  Livingstone  would  on  no 
account  expose  himself  anew  to  the  misery,  risk,  and 
disaj^pointment  he  had  experienced  from  the  kind  of 
men  that  had  compelled  him  to  turn  back  at  Nyangwe. 

Dr.  Livingstone's  last  act  before  Mr.  Stanley  left  him 
v/as  to  write  his  letters — twenty  for  Great  Britain,  six 
for  Bombay,  two  for  New  York,  and  one  for  Zanzibar. 
The  two  for  New  York  were  for  Mr.  Bennett  of  the  Isew 
York  Herald,  by  whom  Stanley  had  been  sent  to  Africa. 

Mr.  Stanley  has  freely  unfolded  to  us  the  bitterness 
of  his  heart  in  parting  from  Livingstone.  "  My  days 
seem  to  have  been  spent  in  an  Elysian  field ;  otherwise, 
why  should  I  so  keenly  regret  the  near  approach  of  the 
parting  hour  ?  Have  I  not  been  battered  by  successive 
fevers,  prostrate  with  agony  day  after  day  lately  ?  Have 
I  not  raved  and  stormed  in  madness  ?  Have  I  not 
clenched  my  fists  in  fury,  and  fought  with  the  wild 
strength  of  despair  when  in  delirium  ?  Yet,  I  regret  to 
surrender  the  pleasure  I  have  felt  in  this  man's  society, 
though  so  dearly  purchased.  .  .  .  March  lAth. — We  had 
a  sad  breakfast  together.  I  could  not  eat,  my  heart  was 
too  full ;  neither  did  my  companion  seem  to  have  an 
appetite.  We  found  something  to  do  which  kept  us 
longer  together.  At  eight  o'clock  I  was  not  gone,  and  I 
had  thought  to  have  been  off"  at  five  a.m.  .  .  .  We 
walked  side  by  side  ;  the  men  lifted  their  voices  in  a  song. 
I  took  long  looks  at  Livingstone,  to  impress  his  features 
thoroughly  on  my  memory.  .  .  .  '  Now,  my  dear  Doctor, 
the  best  friends  must  part.  You  have  come  far  enough  ; 
let  me  beg  of  you  to  turn  back.'  '  Well,'  Livingstone 
replied,  '  I  will  say  this  to  you  :  You  have  done  what  few 
men  could  do, — far  better  than  some  great  travellers 
I  know.    And  I  am  grateful  to  you  for  what  you  have 


1871-72.]  LIVINGSTONE  AND  STANLEY.  429 

done  for  me.  God  guide  you  safe  home,  and  bless  you, 
my  friend.' — '  And  may  God  bring  you  safe  back  to  us  all, 
my  dear  friend.  Farewell!' — 'Farewell.'  .  .  .  My  friendly 
reader,  I  wrote  the  above  extracts  in  my  Diary  on  the 
evening  of  each  day.  I  look  at  them  now  after  six 
months  have  passed  away ;  yet  I  am  not  ashamed  of 
them  ;  my  eyes  feel  somewhat  dimmed  at  the  recollec- 
tion of  the  parting.  I  dared  not  erase,  nor  modify  what 
I  had  penned,  while  my  feelings  were  strong.  God 
grant  that  if  ever  you  take  to  travelling  in  Africa  you 
will  get  as  noble  and  true  a  man  for  your  companion 
as  David  Livingstone  !  For  four  months  and  four  days  I 
lived  with  him  in  the  same  house,  or  in  the  same  boat, 
or  in  the  same  tent,  and  I  never  found  a  fault  in  him.  I 
am  a  man  of  a  quick  temper,  and  often  without  sufficient 
cause,  I  daresay,  have  broken  the  ties  of  friendship  ; 
but  with  Livingstone  I  never  had  cause  for  resent- 
ment, but  each  day's  life  with  him  added  to  my  admira- 
tion for  him." 

If  Stanley's  feeling  for  Livingstone  was  thus  at  the 
warmest  temperature,  Livingstone's  sense  of  the  service 
done  to  him  by  Stanley  was  equally  unqualified.  What- 
ever else  he  might  be  or  might  not  be,  he  had  proved 
a  true  friend  to  him.  He  had  risked  his  life  in  the 
attempt  to  reach  him,  had  been  delighted  to  share  with 
him  every  comfort  he  possessed,  and  to  leave  with  him 
ample  stores  of  all  that  might  be  useful  to  him  in  his 
effort  to  finish  his  work.  Whoever  may  have  been  to 
blame  for  it,  it  is  certain  that  Livingstone  had  been 
afflicted  for  years,  and  latterly  worried  almost  to  death, 
by  the  inefficiency  and  worthlessness  of  the  men  sent 
to  serve  him.  In  Stanley  he  found  one  whom  he  could 
trust  impHcitly  to  do  everything  that  zeal  and  energy 
could  contrive  in  order  to  find  him  efficient  men  and 
otherwise  carry  out  his  plans.  It  was  Stanley  therefore 
whom    he    commissioned   to    send    him    up   men   fi'om 


43 o  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xxi. 

Zanzibar,  It  was  Stanley  to  whom  he  intrusted  his 
Jonrnal  and  other  documents.  Stanley  had  been  his 
confidential  friend  for  four  months — the  only  white  man 
to  whom  he  had  talked  for  six  years.  It  was  matter 
of  life  and  death  to  Livingstone  to  be  supplied  for  this 
concluding  piece  of  work  far  better  than  he  had  been  for 
years  back.  What  man  in  his  senses  would  have  failed 
in  these  circumstances  to  avail  himself  to  the  utmost  of 
the  services  of  one  who  had  shown  himself  so  efficient  ; 
would  have  put  him  aside  to  fall  back  on  others,  albeit 
his  own  countrymen,  who,  with  all  their  good-will,  had 
not  been  able  to  save  him  from  robbery,  beggary,  and  a 
half-broken  heart  ? 

Stanley's  journey  from  Unyanyembe  to  Bagamoio  was 
a  perpetual  struggle  against  hostile  natives,  flooded 
roads,  slush,  mire,  and  water,  roaring  torrents,  ants  and 
mosquitos,  or,  as  he  described  it,  the  ten  plagues  of 
Egypt.  On  his  reaching  Bagamoio  on  the  6th  May,  he 
found  a  new  surprise.  A  white  man  dressed  in  flannels 
and  helmet  appeared,  and  as  he  met  Stanley  congratu- 
lated him  on  his  splendid  success.  It  was  Lieutenant 
Henn,  K.N.,  a  member  of  the  Search  Expedition  which 
the  Koyal  Geographical  Society  and  others  had  sent  out 
to  look  for  Livino-stone.  The  resolution  to  oro^anise  such 
an  expedition  was  taken  after  news  had  come  to  England 
of  the  war  between  the  Arabs  and  the  natives  at  Un- 
yanyembe, stopping  the  communication  with  Ujiji,  and 
rendering  it  impossible,  as  it  was  thought,  for  Mr. 
Stanley  to  get  to  Livingstone's  relief  The  expedition 
had  been  placed  under  command  of  Lieutenant  Dawson, 
R.N.,  with  Lieutenant  Henn  as  second,  and  was  joined 
by  the  Be  v.  Charles  New,  a  missionary  from  Mombasa, 
and  Mr.  W.  Oswell  Livingstone,  youngest  son  of  the 
Doctor.  Stanley's  arrival  at  Bagamoio  had  been  pre- 
ceded by  that  of  some  of  his  men,  who  brought  the  news 
that   Livina'stone    had    been  found    and   relieved.       On. 


1871-72.]  LIVINGSTONE  AND  STANLEY.  431 

hearing  this,  Lieutenant  Dawson  hurried  to  Zanzibar  to 
see  Dr.  Kirk,  and  resigned  his  command.  Lieutenant 
Henn  soon  after  followed  his  example  by  resigning  too. 
They  thought  that  as  Dr.  Livingstone  had  been  reheved 
there  was  no  need  for  their  going  on.  Mr.  New  Hkewise 
declined  to  proceed.  Mr.  W.  Oswell  Livingstone  was 
thus  left  alone,  at  first  full  of  the  determination  to  go  on 
to  his  father  Avith  the  men  whom  Stanley  was  providing  ; 
but  owing  to  the  state  of  his  health,  and  under  the 
advice  of  Dr.  Kirk,  he  too  declined  to  accompany  the 
expedition,  so  that  the  men  from  Zanzibar  proceeded  to 
Unyanyembe  alone. 

On  the  29th  of  May,  Stanley,  with  Messrs.  Henn, 
Livingstone,  New,  and  Morgan,  departed  in  the  "  Africa" 
from  Zanzibar,  and  in  due  time  reached  Europe. 

It  was  deeply  to  be  regretted  that  an  enterprise  so 
beautiful  and  so  entirely  successful  as  Mr.  Stanley's 
should  have  been  in  some  degree  marred  by  ebullitions 
of  feeling  little  in  harmony  with  the  very  joyous  event. 
The  leaders  of  the  English  Search  Exj^edition  and 
their  friends  felt,  as  they  expressed  it,  that  the  wind 
had  been  taken  out  of  their  sails.  They  could  not  but 
rejoice  that  Livingstone  had  been  found  and  relieved,  but 
it  was  a  bitter  thought  that  they  had  had  no  hand  in 
the  process.  It  was  galling  to  their  feelings  as  English- 
men that  the  brilliant  service  had  been  done  by  a  stranger, 
a  newspaper  correspondent,  a  citizen  of  another  country. 
On  a  small  scale  that  spirit  of  national  jealousy  showed 
itself,  which  on  a  wider  arena  has  sometimes  endano-ered 
the  relations  of  Eno-land  and  America. 

o 

When  Stanley  reached  England,  it  was  not  to  be  1/ 
overwhelmed  with  gratitude.  At  first  the  Eoyal  Geo- 
graphical Society  received  him  coldly.  Instead  of  his 
finding  Livingstone,  it  was  surmised  that  Livingstone 
had  found  him.  Strange  things  were  said  of  him  at  the 
British  Association  at  Brighton.     The  daily  press  actually 


432  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xxi. 

challenged  his  truthfulness ;  some  of  the  newspapers 
affected  to  treat  his  whole  story  as  a  myth.  Stanley  says 
frankly  that  this  reception  gave  a  tone  of  bitterness  to 
his  book — How  I  Found  Livingstone — which  it  would  not 
have  had  if  he  had  understood  the  real  state  of  thino-s. 
But  the  heart  of  the  nation  was  sound ;  the  people  be- 
lieved in  Stanley,  and  appreciated  his  service.  At  last 
the  mists  cleared  away,  and  England  acknowledged  its 
debt  to  the  American.  The  Geographical  Society  gave 
him  the  right  hand  of  fellowship  "with  a  warmth  and 
generosity  never  to  be  forgotten."  The  President  apolo- 
gised for  the  words  of  suspicion  he  had  previously  used. 
Her  Majesty  the  Queen  presented  Stanley  with  a  sj^ecial 
token  of  her  regard.  Unhappily,  in  the  earlier  stages  of 
the  affair,  wounds  had  been  inflicted  which  are  not  hkely 
ever  to  be  wholly  healed.  Words  were  spoken  on  both 
sides  which  cannot  be  recalled.  But  the  great  fact 
remains,  and  will  be  written  on  the  page  of  history,  that 
Stanley  did  a  noble  service  to  Livingstone,  earnmg 
thereby  the  gratitude  of  England  and  of  the  civilised 
world. 


I872-73-]    FliOM  UNYANYEMBE  TO  BANGWEOLO.       433 


CHAPTEH   XXII. 

FROM   UNYANYEMBE    TO    BANGWEOLO. 

A.D.  1872-1873. 

Livingstone's  long  -wait  at  Unyanyembe — His  plan  of  operations — His  fifty-ninth 
birthday — Renewal  of  self -dedication — Letters  to  Agnes — to  New  York 
Herald — Hardness  of  the  African  battle — Waverings  of  judgment,  whether 
Lualaba  was  the  Nile  or  the.  Congo — Extracts  from  Journal — Gleams  of 
humour — Natural  history — His  distress  on  hearing  of  the  death  of  Sir 
Roderick  Murchison— Thoughts  on  mission-work — Arrival  of  his  escort  — 
His  happiness  in  his  new  men — He  starts  from  Unyanyembe — Illness — Great 
amount  of  rain — Near  Bangweolo—  Incessant  moisture — Flowers  of  the  forest 
— Taking  of  observations  regularly  i^rosecuted — Dreadful  state  of  the  country 
from  rain — Hunger— Furious  attack  of  ants — Greatness  of  Livingstone's 
sufferings — Letters  to  Sir  Thomas  Maclear,  Mr.  Young,  his  brother,  and  Agne^ 
— His  sixtieth  birthday — Great  weakness  in  April — Sunday  services  and  ob- 
servations continued — Increasing  illness — The  end  approacliing — Last  written 
words — Last  day  of  liis  travels — He  reaches  Chitambo's  village,  in  Ilala— Is 
found  on  his  knees  dead,  on  morning  of  1st  May — Courage  and  affection  of  his 
attendants — His  body  embalmed — Carried  towards  shore — Dangers  and  suf- 
ferings during  the  march — The  party  meet  Lieutenant  Cameron  at  Un- 
yanyembe— Determine  to  go  on — liuse  at  Kasekera — Death  of  Dr.  Dillon — Tlie 
party  reach  Bagamoio,  and  the  remains  are  placed  on  board  a  cruiser — The 
Search  Expeditions  from  England — to  East  Coast  under  Cameron — to  West 
Coast  under  Grandy — Explanation  of  Expeditions  by  Sir  Henry  Rawlinson  — 
Livingstone's  remains  brought  to  England — Examined  by  Sir  W.  Fergusson  and 
others  — Buried  in  AVestminster  Abbey — Inscription  on  slab — Livingstone's 
wish  for  a  forest  grave — Lines  from  Punch — Tributes  to  his  memorj^ — Sir 
Bartle  Frere — The  Lancet — Lord  Polwarth — Florence  Nightingale. 

When  Stanley  left  Livingstone  at  Unyanyembe  there 
was  nothino:  for  the  latter  but  to  wait  there  until  the  men 
should  come  to  him  who  were  to  be  sent  up  from  Zanzi- 
bar. Stanley  left  on  the  14th  March ;  Livingstone  calcu- 
lated tliat  he  would  reach  Zanzibar  on  the  1st  May,  that 
his  men  would  be  ready  to  start  about  the  22d  May,  and 
that  they  ought  to  arrive  at  Unyanyembe  on  the  1 0th 
or  15th  July.     In  reality,  Stanley  did  not  reach  Baga- 

2  E 


434  -DA  VID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xxii. 

moio  till  the  Gth  May,  the  men  were  sent  off  about  the 
25  th,  and  they  reached  Unyanyembe  about  the  9th 
August.  A  month  more  than  had  been  counted  on  had 
to  be  spent  at  Unyanyembe,  and  this  delay  was  all  the 
more  trying  because  it  brought  the  traveller  nearer  to 
the  rainy  season. 

The  intention  of  Dr.  Livingstone,  when  the  men 
should  come,  was  to  strike  south  by  Ufipa,  go  round 
Tanganyika,  then  cross  the  Chambeze,  and  bear  away 
along  the  southern  shore  of  Bangweolo,  straight  west  to 
the  ancient  fountains ;  from  them  in  eight  days  to 
Katanga  copper  mines  ;  from  Katanga,  in  ten  days,  north- 
east to  the  great  underground  excavations,  and  back 
again  to  Katanga ;  from  which  N.N.w.  twelve  days  to  the 
head  of  Lake  Lincoln.  "  There  I  hope  devoutly,"  he 
writes  to  his  daughter,  "  to  thank  the  Lord  of  all,  and 
turn  my  face  along  Lake  Kamolondo,  and  over  Lualaba, 
Tanganyika,  Ujiji,  and  home." 

His  stay  at  Unyanyembe  was  a  somewhat  dreary  one ; 
there  was  little  to  do  and  little  to  interest  him.  Five 
days  after  Stanley  left  him  occurred  his  fifty-ninth  birth- 
day. How  his  soul  was  exercised  appears  from  the  renewal 
of  his  self-dedication  recorded  in  his  Journal : — 

"  1 9//i  March,  Birthday. — My  Jesus,  my  King,  my  Life,  my  All ; 
I  again  dedicate  my  whole  self  to  Thee.  Accept  me,  and  grant,  O 
gracious  Father,  that  ere  this  year  is  gone  I  may  finish  my  task.  In 
Jesus'  name  I  ask  it.     Amen.     So  let  it  he. 

"  DAvm  Livingstone." 

Frequent  letters  were  written  to  his  daughter  from 
Unyanyembe,  and  they  dwelt  a  good  deal  upon  his 
difficulties,  the  treacherous  way  in  which  he  had  been 
treated,  and  the  indescribable  toil  and  suffering  which 
had  been  the  result.  He  said  that  in  complaining  to  Dr. 
Kirk  of  the  men  whom  he  had  employed,  and  the  dis- 
graceful use  they  had  made  of  his  (Ku-k's)  name,  he  never 
meant  to    charge   him   with  being   the   author  of  their 


1872-73]    FROM  UNYANYEMBE  TO  BANGWEOLO.       435 

crimes,  and  it  never  occurred  to  him  to  say  to  Kirk,  "  I 
don't  believe  you  to  be  the  traitor  they  imply  ;"  but  Kirk 
took  his  complaint  in  high  dudgeon  as  a  covert  attack 
upon  himself,  and  did  not  act  toward  him  as  he  ought  to 
have  clone,  considering  what  he  owed  him.  His  cordial 
and  uniform  testimony  of  Stanley  was — "altogether  he 
has  behaved  right  nobly." 

On  the  1st  May  he  finished  a  letter  for  the  New  Yorh 
Herald,  and  asked  God's  blessing  on  it.  It  contained 
the  memorable  words  afterwards  inscribed  on  the  stone 
to  his  memory  in  Westminster  Abbey :  "  All  I  can  add 
in  my  loneliness  is,  may  Heaven's  rich  blessing  come  down 
on  every  one — American,  English,  or  Turk — wdio  will  help 
to  heal  the  open  sore  of  the  world."  It  happened  that 
the  words  were  written  precisely  a  year  before  his  death. 

Amid  the  universal  darkness  around  him,  the  universal 
ignorance  of  God  and  of  the  grace  and  love  of  Jesus 
C^^hrist,  it  was  hard  to  believe  that  Africa  should  ever 
be  won.  He  had  to  strengthen  his  faith  amid  this  uni- 
versal desolation.     We  read  in  his  Journal : — 

"  13th  3 fay. — He  will  keep  His  word — the  gracious  One,  full  of 
grace  and  truth ;  no  doubt  of  it.  He  said  :  '  Him  that  cometh  unto 
me,  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out ; '  and,  '  Whatsoever  ye  shall  ask  in  my 
name,  I  will  give  it.'  He  will  keep  His  Avord  :  then  I  can  come  and 
humbly  present  my  petition,  and  it  Avill  be  all  right.  Doubt  is  here 
inadmissible,  surely.  D.  L." 

His  mind  ruminates  on  the  river  system  of  the  country 
and  the  probability  of  his  being  in  error  : — 

"  21  st  May. — I  wish  I  had  some  of  the  assurance  possessed  by 
others,  but  I  am  oppressed  with  the  apprehension  that,  after  all,  it  may 
turn  out  that  I  have  been  following  the  Congo ;  and  who  would  risk 
being  put  into  a  cannibal  pot,  and  converted  into  black  man  for  it .?" 

"  Zlst  May. — In  reference  to  this  Nile  source  I  have  been  kept  in 
perpetual  doubt  and  perplexity,  I  know  too  much  to  be  positive. 
Great  Lualaba,  or  Lualubba,  as  INIanyuema  say,  may  turn  out  to  be 
the  Congo,  and  Nile  a  shorter  river  after  all.^     The  fountains  flowing 

*  From  false  punctuation,  tliis  passage  is  unintelligible  in  the  Last  Journals, 
vol.  ii.  p.  193. 


436  DA  VID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xxii. 

iiortli  and  south  seem  in  favour  of  its  being  the  Xile.     Great  westing 
is  in  favour  of  the  Congo." 

"2ith  June. — The  medical  education  has  led  me  to  a  continual 
tendency  to  suspend  the  judgment.  What  a  state  of  blessedness  it 
■would  have  been  had  I  possessed  the  dead  certainty  of  the  homoeopathic 
persuasion,  and  as  soon  as  I  found  the  Lakes  Bangweolo,  Moero,  and 
Kamolondo  pouring  out  their  waters  down  the  great  central  valley, 
bellowed  out,  'Hurrah!  Eureka!'  and  gone  home  in  firm  and  honest 
belief  that  I  had  settled  it,  and  no  mistake.  Instead  of  that,  I  am 
even  now  not  at  all  '  cock-sure '  that  I  have  not  been  following  down 
what  may  after  all  be  the  Congo." 

We  now  know  that  this  was  just  what  he  had  been 
doing.  But  we  honour  him  all  the  more  for  the  diffidence 
that  would  not  adopt  a  conclusion  while  any  part  of  the 
evidence  was  wanting,  and  that  led  him  to  encounter 
unexampled  risks  and  hardships  before  he  would  affirm 
his  favourite  Aaew  as  a  flict.  The  moral  lesson  thus 
enforced  is  invaluable.  We  are  almost  thankful  that 
Livingstone  never  got  his  doubts  solved,  it  would  have 
been  such  a  disappointment ;  even  had  he  known  that  in 
all  time  coming  the  great  stream  which  had  cast  on  him 
such  a  resistless  spell  would  be  known  as  the  Livingstone 
Kiver,  and  would  perpetuate  the  memory  of  his  life  and 
his  efforts  for  the  good  of  Africa. 

Occasionally  his  Journal  gives  a  gleam  of  humour  : — 
'•  18th  June. — The  Ptolemaic  map  defines  people  accord- 
ing to  their  food, — the  Elephantophagi,  the  Struthio- 
phagi,  the  Ichthyophagi,  and  Anthropophagi.  If  we 
followed  the  same  sort  of  classification,  our  definition 
would  be  by  the  drink,  thus  :  the  tribe  of  stout-guzzlers, 
the  roaring  potheen-fuddlers,  the  whisky-fishoid-drinkers, 
the  vin-ordinaire  bibbers,  the  lager-beer-swillers,  and  an 
outlying  tribe  of  the  brandy  cocktail  persuasion." 

Natural  History  furnishes  an  unfaiHng  interest : — 
"  19th  Ju7ie. — Why dahs,  though  full-fledged,  still  gladly 
take  a  feed  from  their  dam,  putting  down  the  breast  to 
the  ground,  and  cocking  up  the  bill  and  chirruping  in 
the  most  engaging  manner  and  winning  way  they  know. 


1872-73]    FROM  UNYANYEMBE  TO  BANGIVEOLO.       437 

She  still  gives  them  a  little,  but  administers  a  friendly 
shove-off  too.  They  all  pick  up  feathers  or  grass,  and 
hop  from  side  to  side  of  their  mates,  as  if  saying,  Come, 
let  us  play  at  making  little  houses.  The  wagtail  has 
shaken  her  young  quite  off,  and  has  a  new  nest.  She 
warbles  prettily,  very  much  like  a  canary,  and  is  extremely 
active  in  catching  flies,  but  eats  crumbs  of  bread-and- 
milk  too.  Sun-birds  visit  the  pomegranate  flowers,  and 
eat  insects  therein  too,  as  well  as  nectar.  The  young 
whydah  buxls  crouch  closely  together  at  night  for  heat. 
They  look  like  a  woolly  ball  on  a  branch.  By  day  they 
engage  in  pairing  and  coaxing  each  other.  They  come  to 
the  same  twig  every  night.  Like  children,  they  try  and 
lift  heavy  weights  of  feathers  above  their  strength." 

On  3d  July  a  very  sad  entry  occurs  :  "Received  a  note 
from  Oswell,  written  in  April  last,  containing  the  sad 
intelligence  of  Sir  Roderick's  departure  from  among  us. 
Alas  !  alas  !  this  is  the  only  time  in  my  life  I  ever  felt 
inclined  to  use  the  word,  and  it  bespeaks  a  sore  heart  i 
the  best  friend  I  ever  had — true,  warm,  and  abiding, — he 
loved  me  more  than  I  deserved ;  he  looks  down  on  me 
still."  This  entry  indicates  extraordinary  depth  of  emo- 
tion. Sir  Roderick  exercised  a  kind  of  spell  on  Living- 
stone. Respect  for  him  was  one  of  the  subordinate 
motives  that  induced  him  to  undertake  this  journey. 
The  hope  of  giving  him  satisfaction  was  one  of  the  sub- 
ordinate rewards  to  w^hich  he  looked  forward.  His  death 
was  to  Livingstone  a  kind  of  scientific  widowhood,  and 
must  have  deprived  him  of  a  great  spring  to  exertion  in 
this  last  wandering.  On  Sir  Roderick's  part  the  affection 
for  him  was  very  great.  "Looking  back,"  says  his 
biographer,  Professor  Geikie,  "  upon  his  scientific  career 
when  not  far  from  its  close,  Murchison  found  no  part  of 
it  which  brought  more  pleasing  recollections  than  the 
support  he  had  given  to  African  explorers — Speke,  Grant, 
and  notably  Livingstone.      '  I  rejoice,'  he    said,   '  in  the 


438  jDA  VID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xxii. 

steadfast  tenacity  with  which  I  have  upheld  my  confidence 
m  the  ultimate  success  of  the  last-named  of  these  brave 
men.  In  fact,  it  was  the  confidence  I  placed  in  the  un- 
dying vigour  of  my  dear  friend  Livingstone  wdiich  has 
sustained  me  in  the  hope  that  I  might  live  to  enjoy 
the  supreme  delight  of  welcoming  him  back  to  his  own 
country/  But  that  consummation  was  not  to  be.  He 
himself  was  gathered  to  his  rest  just  six  days  before 
Stanley  brought  news  and  relief  to  the  forlorn  traveller 
on  Lake  Tanganyika.  And  Livingstone,  wdiile  still  m 
pursuit  of  his  quest,  and  wdthin  ten  months  of  his  death, 
learned  in  the  heart  of  Africa  the  tidings  which  he 
chronicled  in  his  journal."^ 

At  other  times  he  is  ruminating  on  mission-work : — 

"lO/Zi/w/y. — No  great  difficulty  Avould  be  encountered  in  estab- 
lishing a  Christian  mission  a  hundred  miles  or  so  from  the  East  Coast. 
...  To  the  natives  the  chief  attention  of  the  mission  should  be 
directed.  It  would  not  be  desirable  or  advisable  to  refuse  explanation 
to  others ;  but  I  have  avoided  giving  offence  to  intelligent  Arabs  who 
having  pressed  me,  asking  if  I  believed  in  Mohamad,  by  saying,  '  No, 
I  do  not ;  I  am  a  child  of  Jesus  bin  INIiriam,'  avoiding  anything  offen- 
sive in  my  tone,  and  often  adding  that  Mohamad  found  their  fore- 
fathers bowing  down  to  trees  and  stones,  and  did  good  to  them  by 
forbidding  idolatry,  and  teaching  the  worship  of  the  only  One  God. 
This  they  all  know,  and  it  pleases  them  to  have  it  recognised.  It 
might  be  good  policy  to  hire  a  respectable  Arab  to  engage  free  porters, 
and  conduct  the  mission  to  the  country  chosen,  and  obtain  permission 
from  the  chief  to  build  temporary  houses.  ...  A  couple  of  Europeans 
beginning  and  carrying  on  a  mission  Avithout  a  staff  of  foreign  attend- 
ants, implies  coarse  country  fare,  it  is  true ;  but  this  would  be  nothing 
to  those  who  at  home  amuse  themselves  Avitli  vigils,  fasting,  etc.  A 
great  deal  of  power  is  thus  lost  in  the  Church.  Fastings  and  vigils, 
without  a  special  object  in  view,  are  time  run  to  waste.  They  are 
made  to  minister  to  a  sort  of  self-gratification,  instead  of  being  turned 
to  account  for  the  good  of  others.  They  are  like  groaning  in  sickness  : 
some  people  amuse  themselves  when  ill  with  continuous  moaning. 
The  forty  days  of  Lent  might  be  annually  spent  in  visiting  adjacent 
tri]:>es,  and  bearing  unavoidable  hunger  and  thirst  with  a  good  grace. 
Considering  the  greatness  of  the  object  to  be  attained,  men  might  go 
without  sugar,  coffee,  tea,  as  I  went  from  September  18GG  to  Decem- 
ber 1868  without  either." 

1  Ufa  of  Sir  R  I.  Murchinon,  vol.  ii.  pp.  207-8. 


1872-73.]    FROM  UNYANYEMBE  TO  BANGWEOLO,       439 

On  the  subject  of  Missions  he  says,  at  a  later  period, 
8th  November  :  "  The  spirit  of  missions  is  the  spirit  of 
our  Master  ;  the  very  genius  of  His  rehgion.  A  diffusive 
philanthropy  is  Christianity  itself.  It  requires  perpetual 
jDropagation  to  attest  its  genuineness." 

Thanks  to  Mr.  Stanley  and  the  American  Consul,  who 
made  arrangements  in  a  way  that  drew  Livingstone's 
warmest  gratitude,  his  escort  arrived  at  last,  consisting  of 
fifty-seven  men  and  boys.  Several  of  these  had  gone 
with  Mr,  Stanley  from  Unyanyembe  to  Zanzibar ;  among 
the  new  men  were  some  Nassick  pupils  who  had  been 
sent  from  Bombay  to  join  Lieutenant  Dawson.  John  and 
Jacob  Wainwrio'ht  were  amonsf  these.  To  Jacob  Wain- 
wTight,  who  was  well-educated,  we  owe  the  earliest  nar- 
rative that  appeared  of  the  last  eight  months  of  Living- 
stone's career.  How  happy  he  was  with  the  men  now 
sent  to  him  appears  from  a  letter  to  Mr.  Stanley,  written 
very  near  his  death  : — "  I  am  perpetually  reminded  that 
I  owe  a  great  deal  to  you  for  the  men  you  sent.  With 
one  exception,  the  party  is  working  like  a  machine.  I 
give  my  orders  to  Manwa  Sera,  and  never  have  to  repeat 
them."     Would  that  he  had  had  such  a  company  before ! 

On  the  25th  August  the  party  started.  On  the  8th 
October  they  reached  Tanganyika,  and  rested,  for  they 
were  tired,  and  several  were  sick,  including  Livingstone, 
who  had  been  ill  with  his  bowel  disorder.  The  march 
went  on  slowly,  and  with  few  incidents.  As  the  season 
advanced,  rain,  mist,  swollen  streams,  and  swampy  ground 
became  familiar.  At  the  end  of  the  year  they  were 
approaching  the  river  Chambeze.  Christmas  had  its 
thanksgiving  :  "I  thank  the  good  Lord  for  the  good 
gift  of  His  Son,  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.'' 

In  the  second  week  of  January  they  came  near 
Bangweolo,  and  the  reign  of  Neptune  became  inces- 
sant. We  are  told  of  cold  rainy  weather ;  sometimes 
a  drizzle,  sometimes  an  incessant  pour ;  swollen  streams 


440  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xxii. 

and  increasing  sponges, — making  progress  a  continual 
struggle.  Yet,  as  lie  passes  through  a  forest,  he  has  an 
eye  to  its  flowers,  which  are  numerous  and  beautiful  :— 

"  There  are  many  flowers  in  tlie  forest ;  marigolds,  a  white  jonquil- 
looking  flower  without  smell,  many  orchids,  white,  yellow,  and  pink 
asclepias,  with  bunches  of  French-white  flowers,  clematis — Methonica 
(jl  .r'tosa,  gladiolus,  and  blue  and  deep  purple  polygalas,  grasses  with 
white  starry  seed-vessels,  and  spikelets  of  brownish  red  and  yellow. 
Besides  these,  there  are  beautiful  blue  flowering  bulbs,  and  new  flowers 
of  pretty  delicate  form  and  but  little  scent.  To  this  list  may  be  added 
balsams,  compositae  of  blood-red  colour  and  of  purple ;  other  flowers 
oi'  liver  colour,  bright  canary  yellow,  pink  orchids  on  spikes  thickly 
covered  all  round,  and  of  three  inches  in  length ;  spiderworts  of  fine 
blue  or  yellow  or  even  pink.  Diff"erent  coloured  asclepiadeae ;  beautiful 
yellow  and  red  umbelliferous  flowering  plants ;  dill  and  wild  parsnips ; 
jiretty  flowering  aloes,  yellow  and  red,  in  one  whorl  of  blossoms ;  peas 
and  many  other  flowering  plants  which  I  do  not  know." 

Observations  were  taken  with  unremitting  diligence, 
except  when,  as  was  now  common,  nothing  could  be  seen 
in  the  heavens.  As  they  advanced,  the  weather  became 
worse.  It  rained  as  if  nothing  but  rain  were  ever  known 
in  the  watershed.  The  path  lay  across  flooded  rivers, 
which  were  distinguished  by  their  currents  only  from  the 
flooded  country  along  their  banks.  Dr.  Livingstone  had 
to  be  carried  over  the  rivers  on  the  back  of  one  of  his  men, 
in  the  fashion  so  graphically  depicted  on  the  cover  of  the 
Last  Journals.  The  stretches  of  sponge  that  came  before 
and  after  the  rivers,  with  their  long  grass  and  elephant- 
holes,  were  scarcely  less  trying.  The  inhabitants  were, 
commonly,  most  unfriendly  to  the  party  ;  they  refused 
them  food,  and,  whenever  they  could,  deceived  them  as 
to  the  way.  Hunger  bore  down  on  the  party  with  its 
bitter  gnawing.  Once  a  mass  of  furious  ants  attacked 
the  Doctor  by  night,  driving  him  in  despair  from  hut  to 
luit.  Any  frame  but  one  of  iron  must  have  succumbed  to 
a  single  month  of  such  a  life,  and  before  a  week  w^as  out, 
any  body  of  men,  not  held  together  by  a  power  of  disci- 
pline and  a  charm  of  affection  unexampled  in  the  history 


1872-73.]    FROM  UNYANYEMBE  TO  BANGWEOLO.       441 

of  difficult  expeditions,  would  have  been  scattered  to  the 
four  winds.  Livingstone's  own  sufferings  were  beyond 
all  previous  example. 

About  this  time  he  beofan  an  undated  letter — his  last 
— to  his  old  friends  Sir  Thomas  Maclear  and  Mr.  Mann.  It 
was  never  finished,  and  never  despatched ;  but  as  one  of 
the  latest  things  he  ever  wrote,  it  is  deeply  interesting, 
as  showing  how  clear,  vigorous,  and  independent  his  mind 
was  to  the  very  last : — ■ 

"  Lake  Bangweolo,  South  Central  Africa. 
"My  dear  FRIENJ3S  Maclear  and  Mann, —  .  .  .  My  Avork 
at  present  is  mainly  retracing  my  steps  to  take  up  the  thread  of 
my  exploration.  It  counts  in  my  lost  time,  but  I  try  to  make 
the  most  of  it  by  going  round  outside  this  lake  and  all  the  sources, 
so  that  no  one  may  c'ome  afterwards  and  cut  me  out.  I  have  a 
party  of  good  men,  selected  by  H.  M.  Stanley,  who,  at  the  instance 
of  James  Gordon  Bennett,  of  the  New  York  Herald,  acted  the  part  of  a 
good  Samaritan  truly,  and  relieved  my  sore  necessities.  A  dutiful  son 
could  not  have  done  more  than  he  generously  did.  I  bless  him.  The 
men,  fifty-six  in  number,  have  behaved  as  Avell  as  ]\Iakololo.  I 
cannot  award  them  higher  praise,  though  they  have  not  the  courage  of 
that  brave  kind-hearted  people.  From  Unyanyembe  we  went  due 
south  to  avoid  an  Arab  war  which  had  been  going  on  for  eighteen 
months.  It  is  like  one  of  our  CafFre  wars,  with  this  difference — no 
one  is  enriched  thereby,  for  all  trade  is  stopped,  and  the  Home 
Government  pays  nothing.  We  then  went  westward  to  Tanganyika, 
and  along  its  eastern  excessively  mountainous  bank  to  the  end.  The 
heat  Avas  really  broiling  among  the  rocks.  No  rain  had  fallen,  and 
the  grass  being  generally  burned  off,  the  heat  rose  off  the  black  ashes 
as  if  out  of  an  oven,  yet  the  flowers  persisted  in  coming  out  of  the 
burning  soil,  and  generally  Avithout  leaves,  as  if  it  had  been  a  custom 
that  they  must  observe  by  a  laAv  of  the  Medes  and  Persians.  This 
part  detained  us  long ;  the  men's  limbs  Avere  affected  Avith  a  sort  of 
subcutaneous  inflammation — ^l)lack  rose  or  erysipelas, — and  Avhen  I 
proposed  mildly  and  medically  to  relieve  the  tension  it  Avas  too 
horrible  to  be  thought  of,  but  they  Avillingly  carried  the  helpless. 
Then  Ave  mounted  up  at  once  into  the  high,  cold  region  Urungu,  south 
of  Tanganyika,  and  into  the  middle  of  the  rainy  season,  Avith  Avell- 
groAvn  grass  and  everything  oppressively  green ;  rain  so  often  that  no 
observations  could  be  made,  except  at  Avide  intervals.  I  could 
form  no  opinion  as  to  our  longitude,  and  but  little  of  our  latitudes. 
Three  of  the  Baurungu  chiefs,  one  a  great  friend  of  mine,  Xasonso, 
had  died,  and  the  population  all  turned  topsy-turvy,  so  I  could 
make  no  use  of  previous  obserA'ations.     They  elect  sisters'  or  brothers* 


442  •  DA  VID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xxii. 

sons  to  tlie  cliieffcainship,  instead  of  the  heir-apparent.  Food  Avas 
not  to  be  had  for  either  love  or  money. 

"  I  was  at  the  mercy  of  guides  who  did  not  know  their  own 
country,  and  when  I  insisted  on  following  the  compass,  they  threatened, 
'no  food  for  five  or  ten  days  in  that  line.'  They  brought  us 
down  to  the  back  or  north  side  of  Bangweolo,  while  I  wanted  to 
cross  the  Chambeze  and  go  round  its  southern  side.  So  back  again 
south-eastwards  we  had  to  bend.  The  Portuguese  crossed  this  Chambeze 
a  long  time  ago,  and  are  therefore  the  first  European  discoverers. 
We  were  not  black  men  with  Portuguese  names  like  those  for  Avhom 
the  feat  of  crossing  tlie  continent  Avas  eagerly  claimed  by  Lisbon  states- 
men. Dr.  Lacerda  was  a  man  of  scientific  attainments,  and  Governor 
of  Tette,  but  finding  Cazembe  at  the  rivulet  called  Chungu,  he  unfor- 
tunately succumbed  to  fever  ten  days  after  his  arrival.  He  seemed 
anxious  to  make  his  way  across  to  Angola.  Misled  by  the  similarity 
of  Chambeze  to  Zambesi,  they  all  thought  it  to  be  a  branch  of  the  river 
that  flows  past  Tette,  Senna,  and  Shupanga,  by  Luabo  and  Kongon6  to 
the  sea. 

"I  rather  stupidly  took  up  the  same  idea  from  a  map  saying 
*  Zambesi '  (eastern  branch),  believing  that  the  map  printer  had  some 
authority  for  his  assertion.  My  first  crossing  was  thus  as  fruitless  as 
theirs,  and  I  was  less  excusable,  for  I  ought  to  have  remembered  that 
while  Chambeze  is  the  true  native  name  of  the  northern  river,  Zambesi 
is  not  the  name  of  the  southern  river  at  all.  It  is  a  Portuguese  cor- 
ruption of  Dombazi,  which  we  adopted  rather  than  introduce  confusion 
by  new  names,  in  the  same  way  that  Ave  adopted  Nyassa  instead  of 
Nyanza  ia  Nyinyesi  z=.  Lake  of  the  Stars,  Avhich  the  Portuguese,  from 
hearsay,  corrupted  into  Nyassa.  The  English  have  been  Avorse  jDropa- 
gators  of  nonsense  than  Portuguese.  '  Geography  of  Nyassa '  Avas 
thought  to  be  a  learned  Avay  of  Avriting  the  name,  though  '  Nyassi ' 
means  long  grass  and  nothing  else.  It  took  me  tAventy-tAvo  months  to 
eliminate  the  error  into  Avhich  I  Avas  led,  and  then  it  Avas  not  by  my  oAvn 
acuteness,  but  by  the  chief  Cazembe,  Avho  Avas  lately  routed  and  slain 
by  a  party  of  BanyaniAvezi.  He  gaA^e  me  the  first  hint  of  the  truth, 
and  that  rather  in  a  bantering  strain  :  '  One  piece  of  AA'ater  is  just  like 
another ;  Bangweolo  Avater  is  just  like  Moero  Avater,  Chambeze  Avater 
like  Luapula  water ;  they  are  all  the  same  ;  but  your  chief  ordered  you 
to  go  to  the  Bangweolo,  therefore  by  all  means  go,  but  Avait  a  few  days, 
till  I  liaA^e  looked  out  for  good  men  as  guides,  and' good  food  for  you  to 
eat,'  etc.  etc. 

"  I  Avas  not  sure  but  that  it  AA-as  all  royal  chaff",  till  I  made 
my  Avay  back  south  to  the  head-Avaters  again,  and  had  the  natives  of 
the  islet  Mpabala  sloAvly  moving  the  hands  all  around  the  great  ex- 
panse, Avith  183°  of  sea  horizon,  and  saying  that  is  Chambeze,  forming 
the  great  BangAveolo,  and  disappearing  behind  that  Avestern  headland 
to  change  its  name  to  Luapula,  and  run  doAvn  past  Cazembe  to  Moero. 
That  Avas  the  moment  of  discovery,  and  not  my  passage  or  the  Portu- 


1872-73.]    FROM  UNYANYEMBE  TO  BANGWEOLO.       443 

guese  passage  of  the  river.  If,  however,  any  one  chooses  to  claim 
for  them  the  discovery  of  Chambeze  as  one  line  of  drainage  of  the  Nile 
valley,  I  shall  not  fight  with  him  ;  Culpepper's  astrology  was  in  the 
same  way  the  forerunner  of  the  Herschels'  and  the  other  astronomers 
that  followed." 


To  another  old  friend,  Mr.  James  Young,  he  wrote 
about  the  same  time  :  "  Opere  peracto  ludemus — the  work 
being  finished,  we  will  play — you  remember  in  your  Latin 
Rudiments  lang  syne.  It  is  true  for  you,  and  I  rejoice 
to  think  it  is  now  your  portion,  after  w^orking  nobly,  to 
play.  May  you  have  a  long  spell  of  it !  I  am  differently 
situated ;  I  shall  never  be  able  to  play.  ...  To  me  it 
seems  to  be  said,  '  If  thou  forbear  to  deliver  them  that 
are  drawn  unto  death,  and  those  that  be  ready  to  be 
slain  ;  if  thou  sayest.  Behold  we  knew  it  not,  doth  not 
He  that  pondereth  the  heart  consider,  and  He  that  keepeth 
tliy  soul  doth  He  not  know,  and  shall  He  not  give  to 
every  one  according  to  his  w^orks  ? '  I  have  been  led,  un- 
wittingly, into  the  slaving  field  of  the  Banians  and  Arabs 
in  Central  Africa.  I  have  seen  the  woes  inflicted,  and  I 
must  still  work  and  do  all  I  can  to  expose  and  mitigate 
the  evils.  Though  hard  work  is  still  to  be  my  lot,  I  look 
genially  on  others  more  favoured  in  their  lot.  I  would 
not  be  a  member  of  the  '  International,'  for  I  love  to  see 
and  think  of  others  enjoying  life. 

"  During  a  large  part  of  this  journey  I  had  a  strong 
presentiment  that  I  should  never  live  to  finish  it.  It 
is  weakened  now,  as  I  seem  to  see  the  end  towards 
which  I  have  been  striving  looming  in  the  distance. 
This  presentiment  did  not  interfere  with  the  performance 
of  any  duty ;  it  only  made  me  thmk  a  great  deal  moi'e 
of  the  future  state  of  being." 

In  his  latest  letters  there  is  abundant  evidence  that 
the  great  desire  of  his  heart  was  to  expose  the  slave- 
trade,  rouse  public  feeling,  and  get  that  great  hindrance 
to  all  good  for  ever  swept  away. 


444  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xxii. 

"Spare  no  pains,"  he  wrote  to  Dr.  Kirk  in  1871,  "in 
attempting  to  persuade  your  superiors  to  this  end,  and 
the  Divine  blessing  will  descend  on  you  and  yours." 

To  his  daughter  Agnes  he  wrote  (15th  August  1872) : 
"  No  one  can  estimate  the  amount  of  God-pleasing  good 
that  will  be  done,  if,  by  Divine  favour,  this  awful  slave- 
trade,  into  the  midst  of  which  I  have  come,  be  abolished. 
This  will  be  something  to  have  lived  for,  and  the  convic- 
tion has  grown  in  my  mind  that  it  was  for  this  end  I 
have  been  detained  so  long." 

To  his  brother  in  Canada  he  says  {December  1872) : 
"  If  the  good  Lord  permits  me  to  put  a  stop  to  the 
enormous  evils  of  the  inland  slave-trade,  I  shall  not 
grudge  my  hunger  and  toils,  I  shall  bless  His  name 
with  all  my  heart.  The  Nile  sources  are  valuable  to 
me  only  as  a  means  of  enabling  me  to  ojoen  my  mouth 
with  power  among  men.  It  is  this  power  I  hope  to 
apply  to  remedy  an  enormous  evil,  and  join  my  poor 
little  helping  hand  in  the  enormous  revolution  that  in 
His  all-embracing  Providence  He  has  been  carrying  on 
for  ages,  and  is  now  actually  helpmg  forward.  Men  may 
think  I  covet  fame,  but  I  make  it  a  rule  never  to  read 
aught  written  in  my  praise." 

Livingstone's  last  birthday  (19th  March  1873)  found 
him  in  much  the  same  cii-cumstances  as  before.  "  Thanks 
to  the  Almighty  Preserver  of  men  for  sparing  me  thus 
far  on  the  journey  of  life.  Can  I  hope  for  ultimate 
success  ?  So  many  obstacles  have  arisen.  Let  not  Satan 
prevail  over  me,  0  my  good  Lord  Jesus."  A  few  days 
after  (24th  March),  "  Nothing  earthly  will  make  me  give 
lip  my  work  in  despam  I  encourage  myself  in  the  Lord 
my  God,  and  go  forward." 

In  the  beginning  of  April,  the  bleeding  from  the 
bowels,  from  which  he  had  been  suffering,  became  more 
copious,  and  his  weakness  was  pitiful ;  still  he  longed  for 
strength  to  finish  his  work.     Even  yet  the  old  passion 


1872-73.]    FROM  UNYANYEMBE  TO  BANGWEOLO.       445. 

for  natural  history  was  strong ;  the  aqueous  plants  that 
abounded  everywhere,  the  caterpillars  that  after  eating 
the  plants  ate  one  another,  and  were  such  clumsy 
swimmers ;  the  fish  with  the  hook-shaped  lower  jaw  that 
enabled  them  to  feed  as  they  skimmed  past  the  plants  ; 
the  morning  summons  of  the  cocks  and  turtle-doves ;  the 
weird  scream  of  the  fish  eagle — all  engaged  his  interest. 
Observations  continued  to  be  taken,  and  the  Sunday 
services  were  always  held. 

But  on  the  21st  April  a  change  occurred.  In  a  shaky 
hand  he  wrote  :  "Tried  to  ride,  but  was  forced  to  lie 
down,  and  they  carried  me  back  to  vil.  exhausted,"  A 
kitanda  or  palanquin  had  to  be  made  for  carrying  him. 
It  was  sorry  work,  for  his  pains  were  excruciating  and 
his  weakness  excessive.  On  the  27th  AjDriP  he  was 
apparently  at  the  lowest  ebb,  and  wrote  in  his  Journal 
the  last  words  he  ever  penned — "  Knocked  up  quite,  and 
remain  =  recover  sent  to  buy  milch  goats.  We  are  on 
the  banks  of  R.  Molilamo." 

The  word  "  recover "  seems  to  show  that  he  had  no 
presentiment  of  death,  but  cherished  the  hope  of  re- 
covery ;  and  Mr.  Waller  has  pointed  out,  from  his  own 
sad  observation  of  numerous  cases  in  connection  with  the 
Universities  Mission,  that  malarial  poisoning  is  usually 
unattended  with  the  apprehension  of  death,  and  that  in 
none  of  these  instances,  any  more  than  in  the  case  of 
Livingstone,  were  there  any  such  messages,  or  instruc- 
tions, or  expressions  of  trust  and  hope  as  are  usual  on 
the  part  of  Christian  men  when  death  is  near. 

The  29  th  April  was  the  last  day  of  his  travels.  In 
the  morning  he  directed  Susi  to  take  down  the  side  of 
the  hut  that  the  kitanda  might  be  brought  along,  as  the 
door  would  not  admit  it,  and  he  was  quite  unable  to  walk 
to  it.  Then  came  the  crossing  of  a  river ;  then  progress 
through  swamps  and  plashes  ;   and  when  they  got  to  any 

'  This  was  the  eleventh  aiiuiversary  of  his  wife's  death. 


446  DA  VID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xxii. 

tiling  like  a  dry  plain,  he  would  ever  and  anon  beg  of 
them  to  lay  him  down.  At  last  they  got  him  to  Chit- 
ambo's  village,  in  Ilala,  where  they  had  to  put  him  under 
the  eaves  of  a  house  during  a  drizzling  rain,  until  the 
hut  they  were  building  should  be  got  ready. 

Then  they  laid  him  on  a  rough  bed  in  the  hut,  where 
he  spent  the  night.  Next  day  he  lay  undisturbed.  He 
asked  a  few  wandering  questions  about  the  country — 
especially  about  the  Luapula.  His  people  knew  that  the 
end  could  not  be  far  oft*.  Nothing  occurred  to  attract 
notice  during  the  early  part  of  the  night,  but  at  four  in 
the  morning,  the  boy  who  lay  at  his  door  called  in  alarm  for 
Susi,  fearing  that  their  master  was  dead.  By  the  candle 
still  burning  they  saw  him,  not  in  bed,  but  kneeling  at 
the  bedside,  with  his  head  buried  in  his  hands  upon  the 
j)illow.  The  sad  yet  not  unexpected  truth  soon  became 
evident  :  he  had  passed  away  on  the  furthest  of  all  his 
journeys,  and  without  a  single  attendant.  But  he  had 
died  in  the  act  of  prayer — prayer  oftered  in  that  rever- 
ential attitude  about  which  he  was  always  so  j^articular ; 
commending  his  own  spirit,  with  all  his  dear  ones,  as  was 
his  wont,  into  the  hands  of  his  Saviour ;  and  commending 
Africa — his  own  dear  Africa — with  all  her  woes  and 
sins  and  wrongs,  to  the  Avenger  of  the  oppressed  and  the 
Redeemer  of  the  lost. 

If  anything  were  needed  to  commend  the  African  race, 
and  prove  them  possessed  of  qualities  fitted  to  make  a 
noble  nation,  the  courage,  affection,  and  persevering 
loyalty  shown  by  his  attendants  after  his  death  might 
well  have  this  effect.  When  the  sad  event  became 
known  among  the  men,  it  was  cordially  resolved  that 
every  effort  should  be  made  to  carry  their  master's 
remains  to  Zanzibar.  Such  an  undertaking  was  ex- 
tremely perilous,  for  there  were  not  merely  the  ordinary 
risks  of  travel  to  a  small  body  of  natives,  but  there  was 
also  the  superstitious  horror  everywhere  prevalent  con- 


1872-73.]    FROM  UNYANYEMBE  TO  BANGWEOLO.       447 

nected  with  the  dead.  Chitambo  must  be  kept  in 
ignorance  of  what  had  happened,  otherwise  a  ruinous 
fine  would  be  sure  to  be  inflicted  on  them.  The  secret 
however  oozed  out,  but  happily  the  chief  was  reasonable. 
Susi  and  Chuma,  the  old  attendants  of  Livingstone, 
became  now  the  leaders  of  the  company,  and  they  fulfilled 
their  task  right  nobly.  The  interesting  narrative  of  Mr. 
Waller  at  the  end  of  the  Last  Journals  tells  us  how 
calmly  yet  efficiently  they  set  to  work.  Arrangements 
were  made  for  drying  and  embalming  the  body,  after 
removing  and  burying  the  heart  and  other  viscera.  For 
fourteen  days  the  body  w^as  dried  in  the  sun.  After 
being  wrapped  in  calico,  and  the  legs  bent  inwards  at  the 
knees,  it  was  enclosed  in  a  large  piece  of  bark  from  a 
Myonga  tree  in  the  form  of  a  cylinder ;  over  this  a  piece 
of  sail-cloth  was  sewed  ;  and  the  package  was  lashed  to  a 
pole,  so  as  to  be  carried  by  two  men.  Jacob  Wainwright 
carved  an  inscription  on  the  Mvula  tree  under  which  the 
body  had  rested,  and  where  the  heart  was  buried,  and 
Chitambo  was  charged  to  keep  the  grass  cleared  away, 
and  to  protect  two  posts  and  a  cross  piece  which  they 
erected  to  mark  the  spot. 

They  then  set  out  on  their  homeward  march.  It  was 
a  serious  journey,  for  the  terrible  exposure  had  aftected 
the  health  of  most  of  them,  and  many  had  to  lie  down 
through  sickness.  The  tribes  through  which  they  passed 
Avere  generally  friendly,  but  not  always.  At  one  place 
they  had  a  regular  fight.  On  the  Avhole,  their  progress 
was  wonderfully  quiet  and  regular.  Everywhere  they 
found  that  the  news  of  the  Doctor's  death  had  got  before 
them.  At  one  place  they  heard  that  a  party  of  English- 
men, headed  by  Dr.  Livingstone's  son,  on  their  way  to 
relieve  his  father,  had  been  seen  at  Bagamoio  some  months 
previously.  As  they  approached  Unyanyembe,  they 
learned  that  the  party  was  there,  but  when  Chuma 
ran  on  before,  he  was  disappointed  to  find  that   Oswell 


44S  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xxii. 

Livingstone  was  not  among  them.  Lieutenant  Cameron, 
Dr.  Dillon,  and  Lieutenant  Murphy  were  there,  and 
lieard  the  tidings  of  the  men  with  deep  emotion. 
Cameron  wished  them  to  bury  the  remains  where  they 
were,  and  not  run  the  risk  of  conveying  them  through 
the  Ugogo  country ;  but  the  men  were  inflexible,  deter- 
mined to  carry  out  their  first  intention.  This  was  not 
the  only  interference  with  these  devoted  and  faithful 
men.  Considering  how  carefully  they  had  gathered  all 
Livingstone's  property,  and  how  conscientiously,  at  the 
risk  of  their  lives,  they  w^ere  carrying  it  to  the  coast, 
to  transfer  it  to  the  British  Consul  there,  it  was 
not  warrantable  in  the  new^-comers  to  take  the  boxes 
from  them,  examine  their  contents,  and  carry  off  a 
jDart  of  them.  Nor  do  we  think  Lieutenant  Cameron 
w^as  entitled  to  take  away  the  instruments  with  which 
all  Livingstone's  observations  had  been  made  for  a 
series  of  seven  years,  and  use  them,  though  only  tem- 
porarily, for  the  purposes  of  his  expedition,  inasmuch 
as  he  thereby  made  it  impossible  so  to  reduce  Living- 
stone's observations  as  that  correct  results  should  be 
obtained  from  them.  Su^  Henry  Eawlmson  seems  not 
to  have  adverted  to  this  result  of  Mr.  Cameron's  act, 
in  his  reference  to  the  matter  from  the  chair  of  the  Geo- 
graphical Society. 

On  leaving  Unyanyembe  the  party  were  joined  by 
Lieutenant  Murphy,  not  much  to  the  promotion  of  unity 
of  action  or  harmonious  feeling.  At  Kasekera  a  spirit  of 
opposition  was  shown  by  the  inhabitants,  and  a  ruse  was 
resorted  to  so  as  to  throw  them  off  their  guard.  It  was 
resolved  to  pack  the  remains  in  such  form  that  when 
wrapped  in  calico  they  should  appear  like  an  ordinary 
bale  of  merchandise.  A  fagot  of  mapira  stalks,  cut  into 
lengths  of  about  six  feet,  was  then  swathed  in  cloth,  to 
imitate  a  dead  body  about  to  be  buried.  This  was  sent 
back  along  the  way  to  Unyanyembe,  as  if  the  party  had 


1874]         FROM  UNYANYEMBE  TO  BANGWEOLO.       449 

changed  their  minds  and  resolved  to  bury  the  remains 
there.  The  bearers,  at  nightfall,  began  to  throw  away 
the  mapira  rods,  and  then  the  wrappings,  and  when  they 
had  thus  disposed  of  them  they  returned  to  their  com- 
panions. The  villagers  of  Kasekera  had  now  no  sus- 
picion, and  allowed  the  party  to  pass  unmolested.  But 
though  one  tragedy  was  averted,  another  was  enacted  at 
Kasekera — the  dreadful  suicide  of  Dr.  Dillon  while  suf- 
fering from  dysentery  and  fever. 

The  cortege  now  passed  on  v/ithout  further  incident, 
and  arrived  at  Bagamoio  in  February  1874.  Soon  after 
they  reached  Bagamoio  a  cruiser  arrived  from  Zanzibar, 
with  the  acting  Consul,  Captain  Prideaux,  on  board,  and 
the  remains  were  conveyed  to  that  island  previous  to 
their  being  sent  to  England. 

The  men  that  for  nine  long  months  remained  steadfast 
to  their  purpose  to  pay  honour^  to  the  remains  of  their 
master,  in  the  midst  of  innumerable  trials  and  dangers 
and  without  hope  of  reward,  have  established  a  strong 
claim  to  the  gratitude  and  admiration  of  the  world. 
Would  that  the  debt  were  promptly  repaid  in  efforts  to 
fi'ee  Africa  from  her  oppressors,  and  send  throughout  all 
her  borders  the  Divine  proclamation,  "  Glory  to  God  in 
the  highest,  on  earth  peace,  good-will  to  men." 

In  regard  to  the  Search  party  to  which  reference  has 
been  made,  it  may  be  stated  that  when  Livingstone's 
purpose  to  go  back  to  the  barbarous  regions  where  he 
had  suffered  so  much  before  became  known  in  England  it 
excited  a  feeling  of  profound  concern.  Two  expeditions 
were  arranged.  That  to  the  East  Coast,  organised 
by  the  Boyal  Geographical  Society,  was  placed  under 
Lieutenant  Cameron,  and  included  in  its  ranks  Bobert 
Moffat,  a  gi-andson  of  Dr.  Moffat's,  who  (as  has  been 
already  stated)  fell  early  a  sacrifice  to  fever.  The 
members  of  the  expedition  suffered  much  from  sickness  ; 
it  was  broken  up  at  Unyanyembe,  when  the  party  bear- 

2"f 


45 o  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xxii. 

inix  the  remains  of  Dr.  Livinofstone  was  met.  The  other 
party,  under  command  of  Lieutenant  Grandy,  was  to  go  to 
the  West  Coast,  start  from  Loanda,  strike  the  Congo,  and 
move  on  to  Lake  Lincoln.  This  expedition  was  fitted 
out  solely  at  the  cost  of  Mr.  Young.  He  was  deeply  con- 
cerned for  the  safety  of  his  friend,  knowing  how  he  was 
hated  by  the  slave-traders  whose  iniquities  he  had 
exposed,  and  thinking  it  likely  that  if  he  once  reached 
Lake  Lincoln  he  would  make  for  the  west  coast  along  the 
Congo.  The  purpose  of  these  expeditions  is  carefully 
explained  in  a  letter  addressed  to  Dr.  Livingstone  by 
Sir  Henry  Kawlinson,  then  President  of  the  Koyal 
Geographical  Society  : — 

"London,  Nov.  20,  1872. 

"  Dear  Dr.  Livingstone, — You  will  no  doubt  have  heard  of  Sir 
Bartle  Frere's  deputation  to  Zanzibar  long  before  you  receive  this, 
and  you  will  have  learnt  with  heartfelt  satisfaction  that  there  is  now 
a  definite  prospect  of  the  infamous  East  African  slave-trade  being 
suppressed.  For  this  great  end,  if  it  be  achieved,  we  shall  be  mainly 
indebted  to  yonr  recent  letters,  which  have  had  a  powerful  effect  on 
the  public  mind  in  England,  and  have  thus  stimulated  the  action  of 
the  Government.  Sir  Bartle  will  keep  you  informed  of  his  arrange- 
ments, if  there  are  any  means  of  communicating  with  the  interior,  and 
I  am  sure  you  will  assist  him  to  the  utmost  of  your  power  in  carrying 
out  the  good  work  in  which  he  is  engaged. 

"  It  Avas  a  great  disappointment  to  us  that  Lieutenant  Dawson's 
expedition,  which  we  fitted  out  in  the  beginning  of  the  year  Avith  such 
completeness,  did  not  join  you  at  Unyanyembe,  for  it  could  not  have 
failed  to  be  of  service  to  you  in  many  ways.  We  are  now  trying 
to  aid  you  with  a  second  expedition  under  Lieutenant  Cameron, 
whom  we  have  sent  out  under  Sir  Bartle's  orders,  to  join  you  if 
possible  in  the  vicinity  of  Lake  Tanganyika,  and  attend  to  your 
wishes  in  respect  to  his  further  movements.  We  leave  it  entii-ely  to 
your  discretion  whether  you  like  to  keejD  Mr.  Cameron  with  you  or 
to  send  him  on  to  the  Victoria  Nyanza,  or  any  other  points  that  you 
are  vmable  to  visit  yourself.  Of  course  the  great  point  of  interest  con- 
nected with  your  present  exploration  is  the  determination  of  the 
lower  course  of  the  Lualaba.  Mr.  Stanley  still  adheres  to  the  view, 
which  you  formerly  held,  that  it  drains  into  the  Nile  ;  but  if  the  levels 
which  you  give  are  correct,  this  is  impossible.  At  any  rate,  the 
opinion  of  the  identity  of  the  Congo  and  Lualaba  is  now  becoming 
so  universal  that  Mr.  Young  has  come  forward  Avith  a  donation  of 
£2000  to  enable  us  to  send  another  expedition  to  your  assistance  up 


1874-]         FROM  UNYANYEMBE  TO  BANGWEOLO.       451 

tlitit  river,  and  Lieutenant  Grandy,  Avitli  a  crew  of  twenty  Kroomen, 
will  accordingly  be  pulling  up  the  Congo  before  many  months  are 
over.  Whether  he  will  really  be  able  to  penetrate  to  your  unvisited 
lake,  or  beyond  it  to  Lake  Lincoln,  is,  of  course,  a  matter  of  great 
doubt ;  but  it  will  at  any  rate  be  gratifying  to  you  to  know  that 
support  is  approaching  you  both  from  the  west  and  east.  We  all 
highly  admire  and  appreciate  your  indomitable  energy  and  persever-. 
ance,  and  the  Geographical  Society  will  do  everything  in  its  power  to 
support  you,  so  as  to  compensate  in  some  measure  for  the  loss  you 
have  sustained  in  the  death  of  your  old  friend  Sir  Roderick  Murchison. 
My  own  tenure  of  office  expires  in  May,  and  it  is  not  j^et  decided  who 
is  to  succeed  me,  but  whoever  may  be  our  President,  our  interest  in 
your  proceedings  will  not  slacken.  Mr.  Waller  will,  I  daresay,  have 
told  you  that  we  have  just  sent  a  memorial  to  Mr.  Gladstone,  praying 
that  a  pension  may  be  at  once  conferred  upon  your  daughters,  and  I 
have  every  hope  that  our  prayer  may  be  successful.  You  will  see  by 
the  papers,  now  sent  to  you,  that  there  has  been  much  acrimonious 
discussion  of  late  on  African  affairs.  I  have  tried  myself  in  every 
possible  way  to  throw  oil  on  the  troubled  waters,  and  begin  to  hope 
now  for  something  like  peace.  I  shall  be  very  glad  to  hear  from  you 
if  you  can  spare  time  to  send  me  a  line,  and  will  always  keep  a 
watchful  eye  over  your  interests. — I  remain,  yours  very  trulj', 

"  H.  C.  Rawlinson." 

The  remains  were  brouoflit  to  Aden  on  board  the 
"  Calcutta,"  and  thereafter  transferred  to  the  P.  and  0. 
steamer  "  Malwa,"  which  arrived  at  Southampton  on  the 
15th  of  April.  Mr.  Thomas  Livingstone,  eldest  surviving 
son  of  the  Doctor,  being  then  in  Egypt  on  account  of 
his  health,^  had  gone  on  board  at  Alexandria.  The  body 
was  conveyed  to  London  by  special  train  and  deposited  in 
the  rooms  of  the  Geographical  Society  in  Savile  Kow. 

In  the  course  of  the  evening  the  remains  were  ex- 
amined by  Sir  William  Fergusson  and  several  other 
medical  gentlemen,  including  Dr.  Loudon  of  Hamilton, 
whose  professional  skill  and  great  kindness  to  his  family 
had  gained  for  him  a  high  place  in  the  esteem  and  love 
of  Livingstone.  To  many  persons  it  had  appeared  so 
incredible  that  the  remains  should  have  been  brought 
from  the  heart  of  Africa  to  London,  that  some  conclusive 
identification    of  the   body    seemed  to    be  necessary    to 

*  Thomas  never  regained  robust  health.    He  died  at  Alexandria,  15th  March  1876. 


452  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  [chap.  xxii. 

set  all  doubt  at  rest.  The  state  of  the'  arm,  the  one 
that  had  been  broken  by  the  lion,  supplied  the  crucial 
evidence.  "  Exactly  in  the  region  of  the  attachment  of 
the  deltoid  to  the  humerus  "  (said  Sir  William  Fergusson 
in  a  contribution  to  the  Lancet,  April  18,  1874),  "there 
were  the  mdications  of  an  oblique  fracture.  On  moving 
the  arm  there  were  the  indications  of  an  ununited 
fracture.  A  closer  identification  and  dissection  displayed 
the  false  joint  that  had  so  long  ago  been  so  w^ell  recog- 
nised by  those  who  had  examined  the  arm  in  former 
days.  .  .  .  The  first  glance  set  my  mind  at  rest,  and 
that,  with  the  further  examination,  made  me  as  positive 
as  to  the  identification  of  these  remains  as  that  there  has 
been  among  us  in  modern  times  one  of  the  greatest  men 
of  the  human  race — David  Livingstone." 

On  Saturday,  April  18,  1874,  the  remains  of  the  great 
traveller  were  committed  to  their  restmg-place  near  the 
centre  of  the  nave  of  Westmmster  Abbey.  Many  old 
friends  of  Livingstone  came  to  be  present,  and  many  of 
his  admu-ers,  who  could  not  but  avail  themselves  of 
the  opportunity  to  pay  a  last  tribute  of  respect  to  his 
memory.  The  Abbey  was  crowded  in  every  part  from 
which  the  spectacle  might  be  seen.  The  pall-bearers  were 
Mr.  H.  M.  Stanley,  Jacob  Wamwright,  Sir  T.  Steele,  Dr. 
Kirk,  Mr.  W.  F.  Webb,  Eev.  Horace  Waller,  Mr.  OsweU, 
and  Mr.  E.  D.  Young.  Two  of  these,  Mr.  Waller  and  Dr. 
Kirk,  along  with  Dr.  Stewart,  who  was  also  present,  had 
assisted  twelve  years  before  at  the  funeral  of  Mrs.  Living- 
stone at  Shupanga.  Dr.  Moffat  too  was  there,  full  of  sor- 
rowful admu-ation.  Amid  a  service  w^hich  was  emphatically 
impressive  throughout,  the  simple  words  of  the  hymn, 
sung  to  the  tune  of  Tallis,  were  pecuUarly  touching  : — 

"  0  God  of  Betliel !  by  Avhose  hand 
Thy  people  still  are  fed, 
Who  through  this  Aveary  pilgrimage 
llast  all  our  fathers  led." 


1874]         FROM  UNYANYEMBE  TO  BANGWEOLO.       453 

The  black  slab  that  now  marks  the  restiiig-place  of 
Livingstone  bears  this  inscription  : — 

BROUGHT  BY  FAITHFUL  HANDS 

OVER  LAND  AND  SEA, 

HERE  RESTS 

DAVID    LIVINGSTONE; 

MISSIONARY,    TRAVELLER,    PHILANTHROPIST, 

BORN  MARCH  19,  1813, 

AT  BLANTYRE,  LANARKSHIRE. 

DIED  MAY  4,1  1873, 

AT  CHITA]\IBO'S  VILLAGE,  ILALA. 

For  thirty  years  his  life  Avas  spent  in  an  unwearied  effort  to  evangelize 
the  native  races,  to  explore  the  undiscovered  secrets, 

and  abolish  the  desolating  slave-trade  of  Central  Africa, 

Avhere,  Avith  his  last  Avords  he  Avrote : 

"  All  I  can  say  in  my  solitude  is,  may  Heaven's  rich  blessing 

come  doAvn  on  every  one — American,  English,  Turk — 

Avho  Avill  help  to  heal  this  open  sore  of  the  Avorld." 

Along  the  right  border  of  the  stone  are  the  words  : — 

TANTUS  AMOR  VERI,  NIHIL  EST  QUOD  NOSCERE  MALIM 
QUAM  FLUVII  CAUSAS  PER  S^CULA  TANTA  LATENTES. 

And  along  the  left  border — 

OTHER  SHEEP  I  IIAA^E  WHICH  ARE  NOT  OF  THIS  FOLD, 

THEM  ALSO  I  MUST  BRING,  AND  THEY  SHALL  HEAR  MY  VOICE. 

On  the  25th  June  18G8,  not  far  from  the  northern 
border  of  that  lake  Bangweolo  on  whose  southern  shore 
he  passed  away,  Dr.  Livingstone  came  on  a  grave  in  a 
forest.     He  says  of  it — 

"  It  was  a  little  rounded  mound,  as  if  the  occupant 
sat  in  it  in  the  usual  native  way ;  it  \Aas  strewed  over 
with  flour,  and  a  number  of  the  large  blue  beads  put  on 

*  In  the  Last  Journals  the  date  is  1st  May  ;  on  the  stone  4th  May.     The  attend- 
ants could  not  quite  determine  the  day.  -• 


454  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xxii. 

it ;  a  little  path  showed  that  it  had  visitors.  This  is  the 
sort  of  grave  I  should  prefer  :  to  be  in  the  still,  still 
forest,  and  no  hand  ever  disturb  my  bones.  The  gi^aves 
at  home  always  seemed  to  me  to  be  miserable,  especially, 
those  in  the  cold  damp  clay,  and  without  elbow-room ; 
but  I  have  nothing  to  do  but  wait  till  He  who  is  over  all 
decides  where  I  have  to  lay  me  down  and  die.  Poor  Mary 
lies  on  Shupanga  brae,  '  and  beeks  foment  the  sun.'  " 

"  He  who  is  over  all "  decreed  that  while  his  heart 
should  lie  in  the  leafy  forest,  in  such  a  spot  as  he  loved, 
his  bones  should  repose  in  a  great  Christian  temjDle, 
where  many,  day  by  day,  as  they  read  his  name,  would 
recall  his  noble  Christian  life,  and  feel  how  like  he  was  to 
Him  of  whom  it  is  written: — ^"The  Spirit  of  the  Lord 
God  is  upon  me ;  because  the  Lord  hath  anointed  me  to 
preach  good  tidings  to  the  meek  :  he  hath  sent  me  to 
bind  up  the  broken-hearted,  to  proclaim  liberty  to  the 
captives,  and  the  opening  of  the  prison  to  them  that  are 
bound ;  to  proclaim  the  acceptable  year  of  the  Lord,  aiid 
the  day  of  vengeance  of  our  God ;  to  comfort  all  that 
mourn  ;  to  appoint  unto  them  that  mourn  in  Zion,  to  give 
unto  them  beauty  for  ashes,  the  oil  of  joy  for  mourning, 
the  garment  of  praise  for  the  spirit  of  heaviness ;  that 
they  might  be  called  trees  of  righteousness,  the  j)lantmg 
of  the  Lord,  that  he  might  be  glorified." 

"  Droop  half-mast  colours,  bow,  bareheaded  crowds 
As  this  plain  coffin  o'er  the  side  is  slung, 
To  pass  by  woods  of  masts  and  ratlined  shrouds, 
As  erst  by  Afric's  trunks,  liana-hung. 

'Tis  the  last  mile  of  many  thousands  trod 
With  failing  strength  but  never  failing  will, 

By  the  worn  frame,  now  at  its  rest  jvith  God, 
That  never  rested  from  its  fight  Avitli  ill. 

Or  if  the  ache  of  travel  and  of  toil 

Would  sometimes  wring  a  short,  sharp  cry  of  pain 
From  agony  of  fever,  blain  and  boil, 

'Twas  bat  to  crush  it  down  and  on  again ! 


i874-]         FROM  UNYANYEMBE  TO  BANGWEOLO.       455 

1       He  knew  not  that  the  trumpet  lie  had  blown 
/  Out  of  the  darkness  of  that  dismal  Iraid, 

Had  reached  and  roused  an  army  of  its  own 

To  strike  the  chains  from  the  slave's  fettered  hand. 

Now  we  believe,  he  knows,  sees  all  is  well ; 

How  God  had  stayed  his  will  and  shaped  his  way, 
To  bring  the  light  to  those  that  darkling  dwell 

With  gains  that  life's  devotion  well  repay. 

Open  the  Abbey  doors  and  bear  him  in 

To  sleep  with  king  and  statesman,  chief  and  sage, 

The  missionary  come  of  weaver-kin, 

But  great  by  work  that  brooks  no  lower  wage. 

He  needs  no  epitaph  to  guard  a  name 

Which  men  shall  prize  Avhile  worthy  work  is  known  ; 
He  lived  and  died  for  good — be  that  his  fame  : 

Let  marble  crumble  :  this  is  Living — stone." — Punch. 

Eiuogiums  on  the  dead  are  often  attempts,  sometimes 
sufficiently  clumsy,  to  conceal  one  half  of  the  truth  and 
fill  the  eye  with  the  other.  In  the  case  of  Livingstone 
there  is  really  nothing  to  conceal.  In  tracing  his  life 
in  these  pages  we  have  found  no  need  for  the  brilliant 
colours  of  the  rhetorician,  the  ingenuity  of  the  partisan, 
or  the  enthusiasm  of  the  hero-worshipper.  We  have 
felt,  from  first  to  last,  that  a  plain,  honest  statement  of 
the  truth  regarding  him  would  be  a  higher  panegyric  than 
any  ideal  picture  that  could  be  drawn.  The  best  tributes 
paid  to  his  memory  by  distinguished  countrymen  were 
the  most  hteral — we  might  almost  say  the  most  prosaic. 
It  is  but  a  few  leaves  we  can  reproduce  of  the  nmny 
wreaths  that  were  laid  on  his  tomb. 

Sir  Bartle  Frere,  as  President  of  the  Eoyal  Geogi^aphi- 
cal  Society,  after  a  copious  notice  of  his  life,  summed  it 
up  in  these  words  : . "  As  a  whole,  the  work  of  his  life  wiU 
surely  be  held  up  in  ages  to  come  as  one  of  smgular  noble- 
ness of  design,  and  of  unflinching  energy  and  self-sacrifice 
in  execution.  It  wiM  be  long  ere  any  one  man  will  be 
able  to  open  so  large  an   extent  of  unknown  land   to 


k 


456  DA  VID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xxii. 

civilised  mankind.  Yet  longer,  j^evliaps,  ere  we  find  a 
brighter  example  of  a  life  of  sucli  continued  and  useful 
self-devotion  to  a  noble  cause." 

In  a  recent  letter  to  Dr.  Livingstone's  eldest  daughter, 
Sir  Bartle  Frere  (after  saying  that  he  was  first  introduced 
to  Dr.  Livingstone  by  Mr,  Phillip,  the  painter,  as  "  one 
of  the  noblest  men  he  had  ever  met,"  and  rehearsing  the 
history  of  his  early  acquaintance)  remarks  : — 

"  I  could  hardly  venture  to  describe  my  estimate  of 
his  character  as  a  Christian  further  than  by  saying  that 
I  never  met  a  man  who  fulfilled  more  completely  my  idea 
of  a  perfect  Christian  gentleman, — actuated  in  what  he 
thought,  and  said,  and  did,  by  the  highest  and  most 
chivalrous  spirit,  modelled  on  the  precepts  of  his  great 
Master  and  Exemplar. 

"  As  a  man  of  science,  I  am  less  competent  to  judge, 
for  my  knowledge  of  his  work  is  to  a  great  extent  second- 
hand ;  but  derived,  as  it  is,  from  observers  like  Sir  Thomas 
Maclear,  and  geographers  like  Arrowsmith,  I  believe  him 
to  be  quite  u.nequalled  as  a  scientific  traveller,  in  the  care 
and  accuracy  with  which  he  observed.  In  other  branches 
of  science  I  had  more  opportunities  of  satisfying  myself, 
and  of  knowing  how  keen  and  accurate  was  his  observa- 
tion, and  how  extensive  his  knowledge  of  everything  con- 
nected with  natural  science;  but  every  page  of  his  journals, 
to  the  last  week  of  his  life,  testified  to  his  wonderful 
natural  powers  and  accurate  observation.  Thirdly,  as  a 
missionary  and  explorer  I  have  always  j^ut  him  in  the 
very  first  rank.  He  seemed  to  me  to  possess  in  the  most 
wonderful  degree  that  union  of  opposite  qualities  which 
were  required  for  such  a  work  as  opening  out  heathen 
Africa  to  Christianity  and  civilisation.  No  man  had  a 
keener  sympathy  with  even  the  most  barbarous  and  un- 
enlio-htened  ;  none  had  a  more  ardent  desire  to  benefit  and 
improve  the  most  abject.  In  his  aims,  no  man  attempted, 
on  a  grander  or  more  thorough  scale,  to  benefit  and  im- 


1 874-]        FROM  UNYANYEMBE  TO  BANGWEOLO.        457 

prove  those  of  his  race  .who  most  needed  improvement 
and  light.  In  the  execution  of  what  he  undertook,  I 
never  met  his  equal  for  energy  and  sagacity,  and  I  feel 
sure  that  future  ages  will  place  him  among  the  very  first 
of  those  missionaries,  who,  following  the  apostles,  have 
continued  to  carry  the  light  of  the  gospel  to  the  darkest 
regions  of  the  world,  throughout  the  last  1800  years.  As 
regards  the  value  of  the  work  he  accomplished,  it  might 
be  premature  to  speak, — not  that  I  think  it  possible  I  can 
over-estimate  it,  but  because  I  feel  sure  that  every  year  will 
add  fresh  evidence  to  show  how  well-considered  were  the 
plans  he  took  in  hand,  and  how  vast  have  been  the  results 
of  the  movements  he  set  in  motion." 

The  generous  and  hearty  appreciation  of  Livingstone 
by  the  medical  profession  was  well  expressed  in  the  words 
of  the  Lancet:  ''Few  men  have  disappeared  from  our 
ranks  more  universally  deplored,  as  few  have  served  in 
them  with  a  higher  purpose,  or  shed  upon  them  the 
lustre  of*a  purer  devotion." 

Lord  Polwarth,  in  acknowledging  a  letter  from  Dr. 
Livingstone's  daughter,  thanking  him  for  some  words  on 
her  father,  wrote  thus :  "  I  have  long  cherished  the  memory 
of  his  example,  and  feel  that  the  truest  beauty  was  his 
essentially  Christian  sphit.  Many  admire  in  him  the  gi^eat 
explorer  and  the  noble-hearted  philanthropist ;  but  I  like 
to  think  of  him,  not  only  thus,  but  as  a  man  who  was  a 
servant  of  God,  loved  His  Word  intensely,  and  while  he 
spoke  to  men  of  God,  spoke  more  to  God  of  men. 

"  His  memory  will  never  perish,  though  the  first  fresh- 
ness, and  the  impulse  it  gives  just  now,  may  fade  ;  but 
his  prayers  will  be  had  in  everlasting  remembra,nce,  and 
unspeakable  blessings  will  yet  flow  to  that  vast  continent 
he  opened  up  at  the  expense  of  his  life.  God  called  and 
qualified  him  for  a  noble  work,  which,  by  grace,  he  nobly 
fulfilled,  and  we  can  love  the  honoured  servant,  and  adore 
the  gracious  Master." 


458  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xxii. 

Lastly,    we   give    the   beautiful   wreath  of  Florence 
Nightingale,  also  in  the  form  of  a  letter  to  Dr.  Living- 


stone's dauofhter : — 


"London,  Ftb.  18,  1874. 


"  Dear  Miss  Livingstone, — I  am  only  one  of  all 
England  which  is  feeling  with  you  and  for  you  at  this 
moment. 

"  But  Sir  Bartle  Frere  encourao^es  me  to  write 
to  you. 

"  We  cannot  help  still  yearning  to  hear  of  some  hope 
that  your  great  father  may  be  still  alive. 

"  God  knows ;  and  in  knowing  that  He  knows  who  is 
all  wisdom,  goodness  and  power,  we  must  find  our  rest. 

"  He  has  taken  away,  if  at  last  it  be  as  we  fear,  the 
greatest  man  of  his  generation,  for  Dr.  Livingstone  stood 
alone. 

"  There  are  few  enough,  but  a  few  statesmen.  There 
are  few  enough,  but  a  few  great  in  medicine,  or  in  art,  or 
in  poetry.  There  are  a  few  great  travellers.  But  Dr. 
Livingstone  stood  alone  as  the  great  Missionary  Traveller, 
the  bringer-in  of  civilisation  ;  or  rather  the  pioneer  of 
civilisation — he  that  cometh  before — to  races  lying  in 
darkness. 

"I  always  think  of  him  as  what  John  the  Baptist, 
had  he  been  living  in  the  nineteenth  century,  would 
have  been. 

"  Dr.  Livingstone's  fame  was  so  world-wide  that 
there  were  other  nations  who  understood  him  even 
better  than  we  did. 

"  Learned  philologists  from  Germany,  not  at  all 
orthodox  in  their  opinions,  have  yet  told  me  that  Dr. 
Livingstone  was  the  only  man  who  understood  races,  and 
how  to  deal  with  them  for  good ;  that  he  was  the  one 
true  missionary.  We  cannot  console  ourselves  for  our 
loss.     He  is  irreplaceable. 


1 874.]     FROM  UNYANYEMBE  TO  BANGWEOLO.  459 

"It  is  not  sad  that  he  should  have  died  out  there. 
Perhaps  it  was  the  thing,  much  as  he  yearned  for  home, 
that  was  the  fitting  end  for  him.  He  may  have  felt  it 
so  himself. 

"But  would  that  he  could  have  completed  that  which 
he  offered  his  life  to  God  to  do  ! 

"  If  God  took  him,  however,  it  was  that  his  life  was 
completed,  in  God's  sight ;  his  work  finished,  the  most 
glorious  work  of  our  generation. 

"  He  has  opened  those  countries  for  God  to  enter  in. 
He  struck  the  first  blow  to  abolish  a  hideous  slave-trade. 

"  He,  like  Stephen,  was  the  first  martyr. 

He  climbed  the  steep  ascent  of  heaven, 

Through  peril,  toil,  and  pain  ; 
0  God  !  to  us  may  grace  be  given 

To  follow  in  his  train  ! 

"  To  US  it  is  very  dreary,  not  to  have  seen  him  agaiu, 
that  he  should  have  had  none  of  us  by  him  at  the  last ; 
no  last  word  or  message. 

"I  feel  this  with  regard  to  my  dear  father,  and  one 
who  was  more  than  mother  to  me,  Mrs.  Brjicebridge, 
who  went  with  me  to  the  Crimean  war,  both  of  whom 
were  taken  from  me  last  month. 

"  How  much  more  must  we  feel  it,  with  regard  to  our 
great  discoverer  and  hero,  dying  so  far  off ! 

"  But  does  he  regret  it  ?  How  much  he  must  know 
now  !  how  much  he  must  have  enjoyed  ! 

"  Though  how  much  we  would  give  to  know  Ms 
thoughts,  alone  ivith  God,  during  the  latter  days  of  his 
hfe. 

"  May  we  not  say,  with  old  Baxter  (something  altered 
from  that  verse)  ? — 

My  knowledge  of  that  life  is  small, 

The  eye  of  faith  is  dim  ; 
But  'tis  enough  that  Christ  knows  all, 

And  he  will  be  with  Him. 


46o  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap.  xxii. 

"  Let  us  think  only  of  him  and  of  his  present  hap- 
piness, his  eternal  happiness,  and  may  God  say  to  us  : 
*Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled.'  Let  us  exchange  a 
*  God  bless  you,'  and  fetch  a  real  blessing  from  God  in 
saying  so. 

"Florence  Nightingale." 


CHAP.  XXIII.]  FOSTHUMOUS  INFLUENCE.  461 


CHAPTEK  XXIII. 

POSTHUMOUS    INFLUENCE. 

History  of  his  life  not  completed  at  his  death — Thrilling  effect  of  the  tragedy  of 
Ilala— Livingstone's  influence  on  the  slave-trade— His  letters  from  Manyuema 
—Sir  Bartle  Frere's  mission  to  Zanzibar — Successful  efforts  of  Dr.  Kirk  with 
Sultan  of  Zanzibar — The  land  route — The  sea  route — Slave-trade  declared 
illegal— Egypt— The  Soudan — Colonel  Gordon — Conventions  with  Turkey — 
King  Mtcsa  of  L^ganda — Nyassa  district — Introduction  of  lawful  commerce — 
Various  commercial  enterprises  in  progress — Influence  of  Livingstone  on 
exjiloration — Enterprise  of  newspapers — Exploring  undertakings  of  various 
nations— Livingstone's  personal  service  to  science — His  hai'd  work  in  science 
the  cause  of  respect — His  influence  on  missionary  enterprise — Livingstonia — • 
Dr.  Stewart — Mr.  E.  D.  Young — Blantyre — The  Universities  Mission  under 
Bishop  Steere — Its  return  to  the  mainland  and  to  Nyassa  district — Church 
Missionary  Society  at  Nyanza — London  Missionaiy  Society  at  Tanganyika  — 
French,  Inland,  Baptist,  and  American  missions — Medical  missions — The  Fisk 
Livingstone  hall — Livingstone's  great  legacy  to  Africa,  a  spotless  Christian 
name  and  character — Honours  of  the  future. 

The  heart  of  David  Livingstone  was  laid  under  the  mvula 
tree  in  Ilala,  and  his  bones  in  Westminster  Abbey  ;  but 
his  spirit  marched  on.  The  history  of  his  life  is  not  com- 
pleted with  the  record  of  his  death.  The  continual  cry 
of  his  heart  to  be  permitted  to  finish  his  work  was 
answered,  answered  thoroughly,  though  not  in  the  way 
he  thought  of  The  thrill  that  went  through  the  civilised 
world  when  his  death  and  all  its  touching  ckcumstances 
became  known,  did  more  for  Africa  than  he  could  have 
done  had  he  completed  his  task  and  spent  years  in  this 
country  following  it  up.  From  the  worn-out  figure 
kneeling  at  the  bedside  in  the  hut  in  Ilala,  an  electric 
spark  seemed  to  fly,  quickening  hearts  on  every  side. 
The   statesman   felt    it ;    it   put   new   vigour    into    the 


462  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap. 

despatches  he  wrote  and  the  measures  he  devised  with 
reofard  to  the  slave-trade.  The  merchant  felt  it,  and 
began  to  plan  in  earnest  how  to  traverse  the  continent 
with  roads  and  railways,  and  open  it  to  commerce  from 
shore  to  centre.  The  explorer  felt  it,  and  started  with 
high  purpose  on  new  scenes  of  unknown  danger.  The 
missionary  felt  it, — felt  it  a  reproof  of  past  languor  and 
unbelief,  and  found  himself  lifted  up  to  a  higher  level  of 
faith  and  devotion.  No  parhament  of  philanthropy  was 
held ;  but  the  verdict  was  as  unanimous  and  as  hearty 
as  if  the  Christian  world  had  met  and  passed  the  resolu- 
tion— "  Livingstone's  work  shall  not  die  : — Africa  shall 

LIVE." 

A  rapid  glance  at  the  progress  of  events  during  the 
seven  years  that  have  elapsed  since  the  death  of  Living- 
stone will  show  best  w^hat  influence  he  wielded  after 
his  death.  iWhether  we  consider  the  steps  that  have 
been  taken  to  suppress  the  slave-trade,  the  progress  of 
commercial  undertakings,  the  successful  journeys  of  ex- 
plorers stimulated  by  his  example  who  have  gone  from 
shore  to  shore,  or  the  new  enterprises  of  the  various 
missionary  bodies,  carried  out  by  agents  with  somewhat 
of  Livingstone's  spirit,  we  shall  see  what  a  wonderful 
revolution  he  effected, — how  entirely  he  changed  the 
prospects  of  Africa.  [ 

Livingstone  himself  had  the  impression  that  his  long 
and  weary  detention  in  Manyuema  was  designed  by 
Providence  to  enable  him  to  know  and  proclaim  to  the 
world  the  a^^^ul  horrors  of  the  slave-trade.  When  his 
despatches  and  letters  from  that  region  were  published 
in  this  country,  the  matter  was  taken  up  in  the  highest 
quarters.  After  the  Queen's  Speech  had  drawn  the 
attention  of  Parliament  to  it,  a  Royal  Commission,  and 
then  a  Select  Committee  of  the  House  of  Commons,  pre- 
pared the  way  for  further  action.  Su'  Bartle  Frere  was 
sent  to  Zanzibar,  with  the  view  of  negotiating  a  treaty 


XXIII.]  POSTHUMOUS  INFLUENCE.  463 

with  the  Sultan,  to  render  illegal  all  traffic  in  slaves  by 
sea,  Su'  Bartle  was  unable  to  persuade  the  Sultan,  but 
left  the  matter  in  the  hands  of  Dr.  Kirk,  who  succeeded 
in  1873  in  negotiating  the  treaty,  and  got  the  shipment 
of  slaves  prohibited  over  a  sea-board  of  nearly  a  thousand 
miles.  But  the  slave-dealer  was  too  clever  to  yield ; 
for  the  route  by  sea  he  simply  substituted  a  route  by 
land,  which,  instead  of  diminishing  the  horrors  of  the 
traffic,  actually  made  them  greater.  Dr.  Kirk's  energies 
had  to  be  employed  in  getting  the  land  traffic  placed  in 
the  same  category  as  that  by  sea,  and  here  too  he  was 
successful,  so  that  within  the  dominions  of  the  Sultan 
of  Zanziba;%  the  slave-trade,  as  a  legal  enterprise,  came 
to  an  end. 

But  Zanzibar  was  but  a  fra^fment  of  Africa.  In  no 
other  part  of  the  continent  was  it  of  more  importance 
that  the  traffic  should  be  arrested  than  in  Egypt,  and 
in  parts  of  the  Empire  of  Turkey  in  Africa  under  the 
control  of  the  Sultan.  The  late  Khedive  of  Egypt  was 
hearty  in  the  cause,  less,  perhaps,  from  dislike  of  the 
slave-trade,  than  from  his  desire  to  hold  good  rank  among 
the  Western  powers,  and  to  enjoy  the  favourable  opinion 
of  England.  By  far  the  most  important  contribution  of 
the  Khedive  to  the  cause  lay  in  his  committing  the  vast 
region  of  the  Soudan  to  the  hands  of  our  countryman. 
Colonel  Gordon,  whose  recent  resignation  of  the  office 
has  awakened  so  general  regret.  Hating  the  slave-trade, 
Colonel  Gordon  employed  his  remarkable  influence  over 
native  chiefs  and  tribes  in  discouraging  it,  and  with  great 
effijct.  To  use  his  own  words,  recently  spoken  to  a  friend, 
he  cut  off  the  slave-dealers  in  their  strongholds,  and  he 
made  all  his  people  love  him.  Few  men,  indeed,  have 
shown  more  of  Livingstone's  spirit  in  managing  the  natives 
than  Gordon  Pasha,  or  furnished  better  proof  that  for 
really  doing  away  with  the  slave-trade  more  is  needed 
than  a  good  treaty — there  must  be  a  hearty  and  inffiiential. 


464  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap. 

Executive  to  cany  out  its  provisions.  Our  conventions 
with  Turkey  have  come  to  Rttle  or  nothing.  They  have 
shared  the  usual  fate  of  Turkish  promises.  Even  the 
convention  announced  with  considerable  confidence  in  the 
Queen's  Speech  on  5th  February  1880,  if  the  tenor  of  it 
be  as  it  has  been  reported  in  the  Temps  newspaper,  leaves 
far  too  much  in  the  hands  of  the  Turks,  and  unless  it  be 
energetically  and  constantly  enforced  by  this  country, 
will  fail  in  its  object.  To  this  end,  however,  we  trust 
that  the  attention  of  our  Government  will  be  earnestly 
directed.  The  Turkish  traffic  is  particularly  hatefid,  for 
it  is  carried  on  mainly  for  purposes  of  sensuality  and 
show. 

y  The  abolition  of  the  slave-trade  by  King  Mtesa,  chief 
of  Waganda,  near  Lake  Victoria  Nyanza,  is  one  of  the 
most  recent  fruits  of  the  agitation.  The  services  of 
Mr.  Mackay,  a  countryman  of  Livingstone's,  and  an 
agent  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  contributed 
mainly  to  this  remarkable  result. 

Such  facts  show  that  not  only  has  the  slave-trade 
become  illegal  in  some  of  the  separate  states  of  Africa, 
but  that  an  active  spirit  has  been  roused  against  it,  which, 
if  duly  du-ected,  may  yet  achieve  much  more.  The  trade, 
however,  breeds  a  reckless  spirit,  which  cares  little  for 
treaties  or  enactments,  and  is  ready  to  continue  the  traffic 
as  a  smuggling  business  after  it  has  been  declared  illegal. 
In  the  Nyassa  district,  from  which  to  a  large  extent  it 
has  disappeared,  it  is  by  no  means  suppressed.  It  is  quite 
conceivable  that  it  may  revive  after  the  temporary  alarm 
of  the  dealers  has  subsided.  The  l-emissness,  and  even 
the  connivance,  of  the  Portuguese  authorities  has  been  a 
great  hindrance  to  its  abolition.  All  who  desire  to  carry 
out  the  noble  objects  of  Livingstone's  life  will  therefore 
do  well  to  urge  her  Majesty's  Ministers,  members  of 
Parliament,  and  all  who  have  influence,  to  renewed  and 
unremitting  efforts  towards  the  complete  and  final  aboli- 


XXIII.]  POSTHUMOUS  INFLUENCE.  465 

tion  of  the  traffic  throughout  the  whole  of  Africa.  To 
this  consummation  the  honour  of  Great  Britain  is  con- 
spicuously pledged,  and  it  is  one  to  which  statesmen  of 
all  parties  have  usually  been  proud  to  contribute. 

If  we  pass  from  the  slave-trade  to  the  promotion  of 
lawful  commerce,  we  find  the  influence  of  Livingstone 
hardly  less  apparent  in  not  a  few  undertakings  recently 
begun.  Animated  by  the  memory  of  his  four  months' 
fellowship  with  Livingstone,  Mr.  Stanley  has  under- 
taken the  exploration  of  the  Congo  or  Livingstone  River, 
because  it  was  a  work  that  Livingstone  desired  to  be 
done.  With  a  body  of  Kroomen  and  others  he  is  now  at 
work  making  a  road  from  near  Banza  Noki  to  Stanley 
Pool,  He  takes  a  steamer  in  sections  to  be  put  together 
above  the  Falls,  and  with  it  he  intends  to  explore  and  to 
open  to  commerce  the  numerous  great  navigable  tribu- 
taries of  the  Livingstone  Iliver.  Mr.  Stanley  has  already 
established  steam  communication  between  the  French 
station  near  the  mouth  of  the  Congo  and  his  own  station 
near  Banza  Noki  or  Embomma.  The  "  Livingstone 
Central  African  Company,  Limited,"  with  Mr.  James 
Stevenson  of  Glasgow  as  chairman,  has  constructed  a 
road  along  the  Murchison  Rapids,  thus  making  the 
original  route  of  Livingstone  available  between  Quili- 
mane  and  the  Nyassa  district,  and  is  doing  much  more 
to  advance  Christian  civilisation.  France,  Belgium,  Ger- 
many, and  Italy,  have  all  been  active  in  promoting  com- 
mercial schemes.  A  magnificent  proposal  has  been  made, 
under  French  auspices,  for  a  railway  across  the  Soudan. 
There  is  a  proposal  from  Manchester  to  connect  the  great 
lakes  with  the  sea  by  a  railway  from  the  coast  opposite 
Zanzibar.  Another  scheme  is  for  a  railway  from  the 
Zambesi  to  Lake  Nyassa.  A  telegraph  through  Egypt  has 
been  projected,  to  the  South  African  colonies  of  Britain, 
passing  by  Nyassa  and  Shire.  An  Italian  colony  on  a  large 
scale  has  been  projected  in  the  dominions  of  Menelek, 

2  G 


466  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap. 

king  of  Shoa,  near  the  Somali  land.  Any  statement  of 
the  various  commercial  schemes  begun  or  contemplated 
would  probably  be  defective,  because  new  enterprises  are 
so  often  appearing.  But  all  this  shows  what  a  new  light 
lias  l^urst  on  the  commercial  world  as  to  the  capabilities 
of  Africa  m  a  trading  point  of  view^  There  seems, 
indeed,  no  reason  why  Africa  should  not  furnish  most  of 
the  products  which  at  present  we  derive  from  India.  As 
a  market  for  our  manufactures  it  is  capable,  even  with  a 
moderate  amount  of  civilisation,  of  becoming  one  of  our 
most  extensive  customers.  The  voice  that  proclaimed 
these  things  in  1857  was  the  voice  of  one  crying  in  the 
wilderness  ;  but  it  is  now  repeated  in  a  thousand  echoes. 

In  stimulating  African  exploration  the  influence  of 
Livingstone  was  very  decided.  He  was  the  first  of  the 
galaxy  of  modern  African  travellers,  for  both  in  the 
Geographical  Society  and  m  the  w^orld  at  large  his  name 
became  famous  before  those  of  Baker,  Grant,  Sj)eke, 
Burton,  Stanley,  and  Cameron.  Stanley,  inspired  first  by 
the  desu^e  of  finding  him,  became  himself  a  remarkable 
and  successful  traveller.  The  same  remark  is  apj^licable 
to  Cameron.  Not  only  did  Livingstone  stimulate  professed 
geographers,  but,  what  was  truly  a  novelty  in  the  annals 
of  exploration,  he  set  newspaper  companies  to  open  U23 
Africa.  The  Aeiy  York  Herald,  having  found  Livingstone, 
l^ecame  hungry  for  new  discoveries,  and  enlisting  a 
brother-in-arms,  Mr.  Edwin  Arnold  and  the  Daily  Tele- 
graph, the  two  papers  united  to  send  Mr.  Stanley  "  to 
fresh  woods  and  pastures  new."  Under  the  auspices  of 
the  African  Exploration  Society,  and  the  directions  of 
the  Boyal  Geographical,  Mr.  Keith  Johnston  and  Mr. 
Joseph  Thomson  undertook  the  exploration  of  the  country 
between  Dar  es  Salaam  and  Lake  Nyassa,  the  former 
falling  a  victim  to  illness,  the  latter  penetrating  through 
unexplored  regions  to  Nyassa,  and  subsequently  extend- 
mg  his  journey  to  Tanganyika.     We  can  but  name  the 


XXIII.]  POSTHUMOUS  INFLUENCE.  467 

international  enterprise  resulting  from  the  Brussels  Con- 
ference ;  the  French  researches  of  Lieutenant  de  Semelle 
and  of  de  Brazza  ;  the  various  German  expeditions  of  Dr. 
Lenz,  Dr.  Pogge,  Dr.  Fischer,  and  Herr  Denhardts;  and 
the  Portuguese  exploration  on  the  west,  from  Benguela 
to  the  head  waters  of  the  Zambesi.  Africa  does  not  want 
for  explorers,  and  generally  they  are  men  bent  on  advanc- 
ing legitimate  commerce  and  the  improvement  of  the 
peoj)le.  It  would  be  a  comfort  if  we  could  think  of  all 
as  having  this  for  then'  object ;  but  tares,  we  fear,  will 
always  be  mingled  with  the  good  seed ;  and  if  there 
have  been  travellers  who  have  led  immoral  hves  and 
sought  their  own  amusement  only,  and  traders  who  by 
traffickino'  in  rum  and  such  thing's  have  demoralised  the 
natives,  they  have  only  shown  that  in  some  natures 
selfishness  is  too  deeply  imbedded  to  be  affected  by  the 
noblest  examples. 

Livingstone  himself  travelled  twenty-nine  thousand 
miles  in  Africa,  and  added  to  the  known  part  of  the 
globe  about  a  million  square  miles.  He  discovered  Lakes 
'Ngami,  Shirwa,  Nyassa,  Moero,  and  Bangweolo ;  the 
upper  Zambesi,  and  many  other  rivers  ;  made  known  the 
wonderful  Victoria  Falls  •  also  the  high  ridges  flanking 
the  depressed  basin  of  the  central  plateau ;  he  was  the 
first  European  to  traverse  the  whole  length  of  Lake 
Tanganyika,  and  to  give  it  its  true  orientation;  he  traversed 
in  much  pain  and  sorrow  the  vast  watershed  near  Lake 
Bangweolo,  and,  through  no  fault  of  his  own,  just  missed 
the  information  that  would  have  set  at  rest  all  his  sur- 
mises about  the  sources  of  the  Nile.  His  discoveries  were 
never  mere  happy  guesses  or  vague  descriptions  from  the 
accounts  of  natives ;  each  spot  was  determined  with  the 
utmost  precision,  though  at  the  time  his  head  might  be 
giddy  from  fever  or  his  body  tormented  with  pain.  He 
strove  after  an  accurate  notion  of  the  form  and  structure 
of  the  continent ;  investigated  its  geology,  hydrography, 


468  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap. 

botany,  and  zoology  ;  and  grappled  with  the  two  great 
enemies  of  man  and  beast  that  prey  on  it — fever  and 
tsetse.  Yet  all  these  were  matters  apart  from  the  great 
business  of  his  life.  In  science  he  was  neither  amateur 
nor  dilettante,  but  a  careful,  patient,  laborious  worker. 
And  hence  his  high  position,  and  the  respect  he  inspired 
in  the  scientific  world.  Small  men  might  peck  and 
nibble  at  him,  but  the  true  kings  of  science, — the 
Owens,  Murchisons,  Herschels,  Sedgwicks,  and  Fergussons 
■ — honoured  him  the  more  the  longer  they  knew  him. 
We  miss  an  important  fact  in  his  life  if  we  do  not  take 
note  of  the  impression  which  he  made  on  such  men. 
/  Last,  but  not  least,  we  note  the  marvellous  expansion 
of  missionary  enterprise  in  Africa  since  Livingstone's 
death.  Though  he  used  no  sensational  methods  of  appeal, 
he  had  a  wonderful  power  to  draw  men  to  the  mission 
field.  In  his  own  quiet  way,  he  not  only  enlisted 
recruits,  but  inspired  them  with  the  enthusiasm  of  their 
calling.  Not  even  Charles  Simeon,  during  his  long  resi- 
dence at  Cambridge,  sent  more  men  to  India  than  Living- 
stone drew  to  Africa  in  his  brief  visit  to  the  Universities. 
It  seemed  as  if  he  suddenly  awakened  the  minds  of  young 
men  to  a  new  view  of  the  grand  purposes  of  life.  Mr. 
Monk  wrote  to  him  truly,  "  That  Cambridge  visit  of  yours 
lighted  a  candle  which  will  never,  never  go  out." 

At  the  time  of  his  death  there  was  no  ixiissionary  at 
work  in  the  great  region  of  Shire  and  Nyassa  on  which 
his  heart  was  so  much  set.  The  first  to  take  possession 
were  his  countrymen  of  Scotland.  The  Livingstonia 
mission  and  settlement  of  the  Free  Church,  planned  by 
Dr.  Stewart  of  Lovedale,  who  had  gone  out  to  reconnoitre 
in  1863,  and  begun  in  1875,  has  now  three  stations  on 
the  lake,  and  has  won  the  highest  commendation  of  such 
travellers  as  the  late  Consul  Elton.  ^  Much  of  the  success 
of  this  enterprise  is  due  to  Livingstone's  old  comrade, 

1  Iiokts  and  Mountains  of  Africa,  pp.  277.280. 


XXIII.]  POSTHUMOUS  INFLUENCE.  469 

Mr,  E.  D.  Young,  B.N.,  who  led  the  party,  and  by  his 
great  experience  and  wonderful  way  of  managing  the 
natives,  laid  not  only  the  founders  of  Livingstonia,  but 
the  friends  of  Africa,  under  obligations  that  have  never 
been  sufficiently  acknowledged.^  In  concert  with  the 
"  Livingstone  Central  African  Company/'  considerable 
.progress  has  been  made  in  explormg  the  neighbouring- 
regions,  and  the  recent  exploit  of  Mr.  James  Stewart, 
C.E.,  one  of  the  lay  helpers  of  the  Mission,  in  traversing 
the  country  between  Nyassa  and  Tanganyika,  is  an  im- 
portant contribution  to  geography.^  It  would  have 
gratified  Livingstone  to  think  that  in  conducting  this 
settlement  several  of  the  Scotch  Churches  were  practi- 
cally at  one — Free,  Reformed,  and  United  Presbyterian  ; 
while  at  Blantyre  on  the  Shire  the  Established  Church 
of  Scotland,  with  a  mission  and  a  colony  of  mechanics, 
has  taken  its  share  in  the  work. 

Under  Bishop  Steere,  the  successor  of  Bishop  Tozer, 
the  Universities  Mission  has  re-occupied  part  of  the  main- 
land, and  the  freed-slave  village  of  Masasi,  situated  be- 
tween the  sea  and  Nyassa,  to  the  north  of  the  Bovuma, 
enjoys  a  measure  of  prosperity  which  has  never  been 
interrupted  during  the  three  or  four  years  of  its  existence. 
Other  stations  have  been  formed,  or  are  projected,  one  of 
them  on  the  eastern  margin  of  the  lake.  The  Church 
Missionary  Society  has  occupied  the  shores  of  Victoria 
Nyanza,  achieving  great  results  amid  many  trials  and 
sacrifices,  at  first  wonderfully  aided  and  encouraged  by 
King  Mtesa,  though,  as  we  write,  we  hear  accounts  of  a 
change  of  policy  which  is  grievously  disappointing.  Lake 
Tanganyika  has  been  occupied  by  the  London  Missionary 
Society. 

The  "Societe  des  Missions  Evang(^liqiies"  of  Paris  has 
made  preparations  for  occupying  the  Barotsd  valley,  near 

^  See  his  work.  Nyassa:  London,  1877. 

^  See  Transactions  of  Royal  GeofjrapJdcal  Society,  ISCO. 


47 o  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap. 

the  head  waters  of  the  Zambesi.  The  Livingstone  Inland 
Mission  has  some  missionaries  on  the  Atlantic  coast  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Congo,  and  others  who  are  w^orking 
inwards,  while  a  monthly  journal  is  edited  by  Mrs. 
Grattan  Guinness,  entitled  The  Regions  Beyond.  The 
Baptist  Missionary  Society  has  a  mission  in  the  same 
district,  towards  the  elucidation  of  which  the  Rev.  J.  T. 
Comber's  Explorations  Inland  from  Mount  Canieroons 
and  through  Congo  to  Mkouta  have  thrown  considerable 
liofht. 

More  recently  still,  the  American  Board  of  Commis- 
sioners for  Foreign  Missions,  having  resolved  to  devote  to 
Africa  Mr.  Otis'  munificent  bequest  of  a  million  dollars, 
appointed  the  Bev.  Dr.  Means  to  collect  information  as  to 
the  most  suitable  openings  for  missions  in  Central  Africa  ; 
and  on  his  recommendation,  after  considering  the  claims 
of  seven  other  localities,  have  decided  to  adopt  as  their 
field  the  region  of  Bihe  and  the  Coanza,  an  upland  tract 
to  the  east  of  Benguela,  healthy  and  suitable  for  European 
colonisation,  and  as  yet  not  occupied  by  any  missionary 
body.  Thus  the  old  world  and  the  new  are  joinmg  theu" 
forces  for  the  evangelisation  of  Africa.  And  they  are 
not  only  occupying  regions  which  Livingstone  recom- 
mended, but  are  trying  to  work  his  principle  of  combining 
colonisation  with  missions,  so  as  to  give  their  people 
an  actual  picture  of  Christianity  as  it  is  exemphfied  in 
the  ordinary  affairs  of  life. 

Besides  missions  on  the  old  principle,  Medical  Missions 
have  received  a  great  impulse  .through  Livingstone. 
When  mission  work  in  Central  Africa  began  to  be  seriously 
entertained,  men  like  Dr.  Law^s,  the  late  Dr.  Black,  and 
the  late  Dr.  Smith,  all  medical  missionaries,  were  among 
the  first  to  offer  their  services.  The  Edmburgh  IMedical 
Mission  made  quite  a  new  start  when  it  gave  the  name  of 
Livingstone  to  its  buildings.  Another  institution  that 
has  adopted  the  name  for  a  hall  in  which  to  train  coloured 


XXIII.]  POSTHUMOUS  INFLUENCE.  471 

people  for  African  work  is  the  Fisk  University,  Tennessee, 
made  famous  by  the  Jubilee  Singers. 

In  glancing  at  these  results  of  Livingstone's  influence 
in  the  mission  field,  we  must  not  forget  that  of  all  his 
legacies  to  Africa  by  far  the  highest  was  the  spotless 
name  and  bright  Christian  character  which  have  become 
associated  everywhere  with  its  great  missionary  explorer. 
From  the  first  day  of  his  sojourn  in  Africa  to  the  last, 
"  patient  continuance  in  well-doing  "  was  the  great  charm 
through  which  he  sought,  with  God's  blessing,  to  win  the 
confidence  of  Africa.  Before  the  poorest  African  he  1 
maintained  self-restraint  and  self-respect  as  carefully  as  \v 
in  the  best  society  at  home.  No  prevailing  relaxation  of 
the  moral  code  in  those  wild,  dark  regions  ever  lowered 
his  tone  or  lessened  his  regard  for  the  proprieties  of  ' 
Christian  or  civilised  life.  Scandal  is  so  rampant  among 
the  natives  of  Africa  that  even  men  of  high  character 
have  sometimes  suffered  from  its  lying  tongue  ;  but  in 
the  case  of  Livingstone  there  was  such  an  enamel  of 
purity  upon  his  character  that  no  filth  could  stick  to  it, 
and  none  was  thrown.  What  Livingstone  did  in  order  . 
to  keep  his  word  to  his  poor  attendants  was  a  wonder  in 
Africa,  as  it  was  the  admiration  of  the  world.  His  way 
of  trusting  them,  too,  was  singularly  winning.  He  would 
go  up  to  a  fierce  chief,  surrounded  by  his  grmning 
warriors,  with  the  same  easy  gait  and  kindly  smile  with 
which  he  would  have  approached  his  friends  at  Kuruman 
or  Hamilton.  It  was  the  highest  tribute  that  the  slave- 
traders  in  the  Zambesi  district  paid  to  his  character 
when  for  their  own  vile  ends  they  told  the  people  that 
they  were  the  children  of  Livingstone.  It  was  the 
charm  of  his  name  that  enabled  Mr.  E.  D.  Young,  while 
engaged  in  founding  the  Livingstonia  settlement,  to 
obtain  six  hundred  carriers  to  transport  the  pieces  of  the 
Ilala  steamer  past  the  Murchison  Cataracts,  carrying  loads 
of  great   weight  for    forty  miles,  at  six  yards  of  caHco 


472  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  [chap. 

each,  without  a  single  piece  of  the  vessel  being  lost  or 
thrown  away.  The  noble  conduct  of  the  band  that  for 
eio-ht  months  carried  his  remains  towards  the  coast  was  a 
crowning  proof  of  the  love  he  inspked. 

Nearly  every  day  some  new  token  comes  to  light  of 
the  affection  and  honour  with  which  he  was  regarded  all 
over  Central  Africa.  On  12th  April  1880,  the  Eev. 
Chauncy  Maples,  of  the  Universities  Mission,  in  a  paper 
read  to  the  Geographical  Society,  describing  a  journey  to 
the  Rovuma  and  the  Makonde  country,  told  of  a  man  he 
found  there,  with  the  relic  of  an  old  coat  over  his  right 
shoulder,  evidently  of  English  manufacture.  It  turned 
out,  from  the  man's  statement,  that  ten  years  ago  a  white 
man,  the  donor  of  the  coat,  had  travelled  with  him  to 
Mataka's,  whom  to  have  once  seen  and  talked  with  was 
to  remember  for  life  ;  a  white  man  who  treated  black  men 
as  his  brothers,  and  whose  memory  would  be  cherished 
all  along  the  Rovuma  Valley  after  they  were  all  dead  and 
gone  ;  a  short  man  with  a  bushy  moustache,  and  a  keen 
piercing  eye,  whose  words  were  always  gentle,  and  whose 
manners  were  always  kind ;  whom,  as  a  leader,  it  was  a 
privilege  to  follow,  and  who  knew  the  way  to  the  hearts 
of  all  men. 

That  early  and  life-long  prayer  of  Livingstone's — ^that 
lie  might  resemble  Christ — was  fulfilled  in  no  ordinary 
degree.  It  will  be  an  immense  benefit  to  all  future  mis- 
sionaries in  Africa  that,  in  exjDlaining  to  the  people  what 
practical  Christianity  means,  they  will  have  but  to  point 
to  the  life  and  character  of  the  man  whose  name  will 
stand  first  among  African  benefactors  in  centuries  to  come. 
A  foreigner  has  remarked  that,  "in  the  nineteenth 
century,  the  white  has  made  a  man  out  of  the  black ; 
in  the  twentieth  century,  Europe  will  make  a  world  out 
of  Africa."  v  When  that  world  is  made,  and  generation 
after  generation  of  intelligent  Africans  look  back  on  its 
beginnings,  as  England  looks  back  on  the  days  of  King 


xxiii.]  POSTHUMOUS  INFLUENCE.  473 

Alfred,  Ireland  of  St.  Patrick,  Scotland  of  St.  Coliimba,  or 
the  United  States  of  George  Washington,  the  name  that 
will  be  encircled  by  them  with  brightest  honour  is  that 
of  David  Livingstone.  Mabotsa,  Chonuane,  and  Kolo- 
beng  will  be  visited  with  thrilling  interest  by  many  a 
pilgrim,  and  some  grand  memorial  pile  in  Ilala  will  mark 
the  spot  where  his  heart  reposes.  And  when  preachers 
and  teachers  speak  of  this  man,  when  fathers  tell  their 
children  what  Africa  owes  to  him,  and  w^hen  the  ques- 
tion is  asked  what  made  him  so  great  and  so  good,  the 
answer  will  be,  that  he  lived  by  the  faith  of  the  Son 
of  God,  and  that  the  love  of  Christ  constrained  him  to 
live  and  die  for  Africa. 


APPENDIX. 

Xo.  I. 

EXTRACTS  FROM  PAPER  ON  "  MISSIONARY  SACRIFICES." 

It  is  something  to  be  a  missionary.  The  morning  stars  sang 
together  and  all  the  sons  of  God  shouted  for  joy,  when  they  first 
saw  the  field  which  the  first  missionary  was  to  fill.  The  great  and 
terrible  God,  before  whom  angels  veil  their  faces,  had  an  Only 
Son,  and  He  was  sent  to  the  habitable  parts  of  the  earth,  as  a 
missionary  physician.  It  is  something  to  be  a  follower,  however 
feeble,  in  the  wake  of  the  Great  Teacher  and  only  Model  IMission- 
ary  that  ever  appeared  among  men ;  and  now  that  He  is  Head 
over  all  things.  King  of  kings  and  Lord  of  lords,  what  commission 
is  equal  to  that  which  the  missionary  holds  from  Him  ?  IMay  we 
venture  to  invite  young  men  of  education,  when  laying  down  the 
plan  of  their  lives,  to  take  a  glance  at  that  of  missionary  ?  We 
will  magnify  the  office. 

The  missionary  is  sent  forth  as  a  messenger  of  the  Churches, 
after  undergoing  the  scrutiny  and  securing  the  approbation  of  a 
host  of  Christian  ministers,  who,  by  their  own  talent  and  worth, 
have  risen  to  the  pastorate  over  the  most  intelligent  and  influential 
churches  in  the  land,  and  who,  moreover,  can  have  no  motive  to 
influence  their  selection  but  the  desire  to  secure  the  most  efficient 
instrumentality  for  the  missionary  work.  So  much  care  and  inde- 
pendent investigation  are  bestowed  on  the  selection  as  to  make  it 
plain  that  extraneous  influences  can  have  but  small  power.  No 
pastor  can  imagine  that  any  candidate  has  been  accepted  through 
his  recommendations,  however  warm  these  may  have  been ;  and 
the  missionary  may  go  forth  to  the  heathen,  satisfied  that  in  the 
confidence  of  the  directors  he  has  a  testimonial  infinitely  superior 


476  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE. 

to  letters-apostolic  from  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  or  even 
from  the  Vatican  at  Eome.  A  missionary,  surely,  cannot  under- 
value his  commission,  as  soon  as  it  is  put  into  his  hands. 

But  what  means  the  lugubrious  wail  that  too  often  bursts 
from  the  circle  of  his  friends  ?  The  tears  shed  might  be  excused 
if  he  were  going  to  Norfolk  Island  at  the  Government  expense. 
Eut  sometimes  the  missionary  note  is  pitched  on  the  same  key. 
The  white  cliffs  of  Dover  become  immensely  dear  to  those  who 
never  cared  for  masses  of  chalk  before.  Pathetic  plaints  are 
penned  about  laying  their  bones  on  a  foreign  shore,  by  those  who 
never  thought  of  making  aught  of  their  bones  at  home.  (Bone 
dust  is  dear  nowhere,  we  think.)  And  tlien  there  is  the  never- 
ending  talk  and  wringing  of  hands  over  missionary  "  sacrifices." 
The  man  is  surely  going  to  be  hanged,  instead  of  going  to  serve 
in  Christ's  holy  Gospel !  Is  this  such  service  as  He  deserves  who, 
though  rich,  for  our  sakes  became  poor  ?  There  is  so  much  in  the 
manner  of  giving ;  some  bestow  their  favours  so  gracefully,  their 
value  to  the  recipient  is  doubled.  From  others,  a  gift  is  as  good 
as  a  blow  in  the  face.  Are  we  not  guilty  of  treating  our  Lord 
somewhat  more  scurvily  than  we  would  treat  our  indigent  fellow- 
men  ?  We  stereotype  the  word  "  charity "  in  our  language,  as 
applicable  to  a  contribution  to  His  cause.  "  So  many  charities, — 
"we  cannot  afford  them."  Is  not  the  word  ungraciously  applied  to 
the  Lord  Jesus,  as  if  He  were  a  poor  beggar,  and  an  unworthy  one 
too  ?  His  are  the  cattle  on  a  thousand  hills,  the  silver  and  the 
gold ;  and  worthy  is  the  Lamb  that  was  slain.  We  treat  Him  ill. 
Bipeds  of  the  masculine  gender  assume  the  piping  phraseology  of 
poor  old  women  in  presence  of  Him  before  whom  the  Eastern 
Magi  fell  down  and  worshipped, — ay,  and  opened  their  treasures, 
and  presented  unto  Him  gifts :  gold,  frankincense,  and  myrrh. 
They  will  give  their  "  mites  "  as  if  what  they  do  give  w^ere  their 
"all."  It  is  utterly  unfair  to  magnify  the  little  we  do  for  Him  by 
calling  it  a  sacrifice,  or  pretend  we  are  doing  all  we  can  by  assum- 
ing the  tones  of  poor  widows.  He  asks  a  willing  mind,  cheerful 
obedience ;  and  can  we  not  give  that  to  Him  who  made  His 
Father's  will  in  our  salvation  as  His  meat  and  His  drink,  till  He 
bowed  His  head  and  gave  up  the  ghost  ? 

Hundreds  of  young  men  annually  leave  our  shores  as  cadets. 
All  their  friends  rejoice  when  they  think  of  them  bearing  the 
commissions  of  our  Queen.     When  any  dangerous  expedition  is 


APPENDIX.  47  7 

planned  by  Government,  more  volunteers  apply  than  are  necessary 
to  man  it.  On  the  proposal  to  send  a  band  of  brave  men  in  search 
of  Sir  John  Franklin,  a  full  complement  for  the  ships  could  have 
been  procured  of  officers  alone,  without  any  common  sailors.  And 
what  thousands  rushed  to  California,  from  different  parts  of 
America,  on  the  discovery  of  the  gold  !  How  many  husbands  left 
their  wives  and  families !  How  many  Christian  men  tore  them- 
selves away  from  all  home  endearments  to  suffer,  and  toil,  and 
perish  by  cold  and  starvation  on  the  overland  route  !  How  many 
sank  from  fever  and  exhaustion  on  the  banks  of  Sacramento  ! 
Yet  no  word  of  sacrifices  there.  And  why  should  we  so  regard  all 
we  give  and  do  for  the  Well-beloved  of  our  souls  ?  Our  talk  of 
sacrifices  is  ungenerous  and  heathenish.  .  .  . 

It  is  something  to  be  a  missionary.  He  is  sometimes  inclined, 
in  seasons  of  despondency  and  trouble,  to  feel  as  if  forgotten.  But 
for  whom  do  more  prayers  ascend  ? — prayers  from  the  secret  place, 
and  from  those  only  who  are  known  to  God.  j\Ir.  Moffat  met  those 
in  England  who  had  made  his  mission  the  subject  of  special  prayer 
for  more  than  twenty  years,  though  they  had  no  personal  knowledge 
of  the  missionary.  Through  the  long  fifteen  years  of  no  success, 
of  toil  and  sorrow,  these  secret  ones  were  holding  up  his  hands. 
And  who  can  tell  how  often  his  soul  may  have  been  refreshed 
through  their  intercessions  ?  .  .  . 

It  is  something  to  be  a  missionary.  The  heart  is  expanded  and 
filled  with  generous  sympathies ;  sectarian  bigotry  is  eroded,  and 
the  spirit  of  reclusiou  which  makes  it  doubtful  if  some  denomina- 
tions have  yet  made  up  their  minds  to  meet  those  who  differ  with 
them  in  heaven,  loses  much  of  its  fire.  .  .  . 

There  are  many  puzzles  and  entanglements,  temptations,  trials, 
and  perplexities,  which  tend  to  inure  the  missionary's  virtue. 
The  difficulties  encountered  prevent  his  faith  from  growing  languid. 
He  must  walk  by  faith,  and  though  the  horizon  be  all  dark  and 
lowering,  he  must  lean  on  Him  whom  having  not  seen  he  loves. 
The  future — a  glorious  future — is  that  for  which  he  labours.  It 
lies  before  him  as  we  have  seen  the  lofty  coast  of  Brazil.  No  chink 
in  the  tree-covered  rocks  appears  to  the  seaman  ;  but  he  glides 
right  on.  He  works  toward  the  coast,  and  when  he  enters  the 
gateway  by  the  sugar-loaf  hill,  there  opens  to  the  view  in  the 
Bay  of  Rio  a  scene  of  luxuriance  and  beauty  unequalled  in  the 
world  beside. 


478  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE. 

The  missionary's  head  will  lie  low,  and  others  will  have  entered 
into  his  labours,  before  his  ideal  is  realised.  The  Future  for  which 
he  works  is  one  which,  though  sure,  has  never  yet  been  seen. 
The  eartli  shall  be  filled  with  the  knowledge  of  the  glory  of  the 
Lord.  The  missionary  is  a  harbinger  of  the  good  time  coming. 
When  he  preaches  the  Gospel  to  a  tribe  which  has  long  sat  in 
darkness,  the  signs  of  the  coming  of  the  Sou  of  Man  are  displayed. 
The  glorious  Sun  of  Eighteousness  is  near  the  horizon.  He  is  the 
herald  of  the  dawn,  for  come  He  will  whose  right  it  is  to  reign ; 
and  what  a  prospect  appears,  when  we  think  of  the  golden  age 
which  has  not  been,  but  must  yet  come  !  Messiah  has  sat  on  the 
Hill  of  Zion  for  1800  years.  He  has  been  long  expecting  that 
His  enemies  shall  be  made  His  footstool ;  and  may  we  not  expect, 
too,  and  lift  up  our  heads,  seeing  the  redemption  of  the  world 
draweth  nigh  ?  The  bow  in  the  cloud  once  spread  its  majestic 
arch  over  the  smoke  of  the  fat  of  lambs  ascending  as  a  sweet- 
smelling  savour  before  God — a  sign  of  the  covenant  of  peace — and 
the  flickering  light  of  the  Shechinah  often  intimated  the  good-will 
of  Jehovah.  But  these  did  not  more  certainly  show  the  presence 
of  the  Angel  of  the  Covenant  than  does  the  shaking  among  the 
nations  the  presence  and  energy  of  God's  Holy  Spirit ;  and  to  be 
permitted  to  rank  as  a  fellow-worker  with  Him  is  a  mercy  of 
mercies.  0  Love  Divine  !  how  cold  is  our  love  to  Thee  !  True, 
the  missionary  of  the  present  day  is  only  a  stepping-stone  to  the 
future ;  but  what  a  privilege  he  possesses !  He  is  known  to 
"  God  manifest  in  the  flesh,  justified  in  the  Spirit,  seen  of  angels, 
jjreached  unto  the  Gentiles,  believed  on  in  the  world,  received  up 
into  glory."     Is  that  not  enough  ? 

Who  would  not  be  a  missionary  ?  His  noble  enterprise  is  in 
exact  accordance  with  the  spirit  of  the  age,  and  what  is  called  the 
spirit  of  the  age  is  simply  the  movement  of  multitudes  of  minds 
in  the  same  direction.  They  move  according  to  the  eternal  and 
all-embracing  decrees  of  God.  The  spirit  of  the  age  is  one  of 
benevolence,  and  it  manifests  itself  in  numberless  ways — ragged 
schools,  batlis  and  wash-houses,  sanitary  reform,  etc.  Hence 
missionaries  do  not  live  before  their  time.  Their  great  idea  of 
converting  the  world  to  Christ  is  no  chimera  :  it  is  Divine.  Chris- 
tianity  will  triumph.  It  is  equal  to  all  it  has  to  perform.  It  is 
not  mere  enthusiasm  to  imagine  a  handful  of  missionaries  capable 
of  converting  the  millions  of  India.     How  often  they  are  cut  off 


APPENDIX.  479 

just  after  tliey  have  acquired  the  language  !  How  often  they 
retire  with  broken-down  constitutions  before  effecting  anything ! 
How  often  they  drop  burning  tears  over  their  own  feebleness  amid 
the  defections  of  those  they  believed  to  be  converts !  Yes !  but 
that  small  band  has  the  decree  of  God  on  its  side.  "Who  has  not 
admired  the  band  of  Leonidas  at  the  pass  of  Thermopylae  ?  Three 
hundred  against  three  million,  Japhet,  with  the  decree  of  God  on 
his  side,  only  300  strong,  contending  for  enlargement  with  Sliem 
and  his  3,000,000.  Consider  what  has  been  eftected  during  the 
last  fifty  years.  There  is  no  vaunting  of  scouts  now.  No  Indian 
gentlemen  making  themselves  merry  about  the  folly  of  thinking  to 
convert  the  natives  of  India ;  magnifying  the  difficulties  of  caste ; 
and  setting  our  ministers  into  brown  studies  and  speech-making 
in  defence  of  missions.  IN  o  mission  has  yet  been  an  entire  failure. 
We  who  see  such  small  segments  of  the  mighty  cycles  of  God's 
providence  often  imagine  some  to  be  failures  which  God  does  not. 
Eden  was  such  a  failure.  The  old  world  was  a  failure  under  Noah's 
preaching.  Elijah  thought  it  was  all  up  with  Israel.  Isaiah  said: 
"  Who  hath  believed  our  report,  and  to  whom  is  the  arm  of  the 
Lord  revealed  ? "  And  Jeremiah  wished  his  head  were  waters,  his 
eyes  a  fountain  of  tears,  to  weep  over  one  of  God's  plans  for  diffus- 
ing His  knowledge  among  the  heathen.  If  we  could  see  a  larger 
arc  of  the  great  providential  cycle,  we  might  sometimes  rejoice 
when  we  weep  ;  but  God  giveth  not  account  of  any  of  His  matters. 
We  must  just  trust  to  His  wisdom.  Let  us  do  our  duty.  He  will 
work  out  a  glorious  consummation.  Fifty  years  ago  missions  could 
not  lift  up  their  heads.  But  missions  now  are  admitted  by  all  to 
be  one  of  the  great  facts  of  the  age,  and  the  sneers  about  "  Exeter 
Hall"  are  seen  by  every  one  to  embody  a  risus  sarclonicus.  The 
present  posture  of  affairs  is,  that  benevolence  is  popular.  God  is 
working  out  in  the  human  heart  His  great  idea,  and  all  nations 
shall  see  His  glory.  .  .  . 

Let  us  think  highly  of  the  weapons  we  have  received  for  the 
accomplishment  of  our  work.  The  weapons  of  our  warfare  are  not 
carnal  but  spiritual,  and  mighty  through  God  to  the  casting  down 
of  strongholds.  They  are — Faith  in  our  Leader,  and  in  the  pre- 
sence of  His  Holy  Spirit ;  a  full,  free,  unfettered  Gospel ;  the 
doctrine  of  the  cross  of  Christ, — an  old  story,  but  containing  the 
mightiest  truths  ever  uttered — mighty  for  pulling  down  the  strong- 
holds of  sin,  and  giving  liberty  to  the  captives.      The  story  of 


48o  DA  VJD  LIVINGSTONE. 

liedeinption,  of  which  Paul  said,  "  I  am  not  ashamed  of  the  gospel 
of  Christ,"  Is  old,  yet  in  its  vigour,  eternally  young. 

This  work  requires  zeal  for  God  and  love  for  souls.  It  needs 
prayer  from  the  senders  and  the  sent,  and  firm  reliance  on  Him 
who  alone  is  the  Author  of  conversion.  Souls  cannot  be  converted 
or  manufactured  to  order.  Great  deeds  are  wrought  in  uncon- 
sciousness, from  constraining  love  to  Christ ;  in  liumbly  asking, 
Lord,  what  wilt  Thou  have  me  to  do  ?  in  the  simple  feeling,  we 
have  done  that  which  was  our  duty  to  do.  They  effect  works,  the 
greatness  of  which  it  will  remain  for  posterity  to  discern.  The 
greatest  works  of  God  in  the  kingdom  of  grace,  like  His  majestic 
movements  in  nature,  are  marked  by  stillness  in  the  doing  of  them, 
and  reveal  themselves  by  their  effects.  They  come  up  like  the 
sun,  and  show  themselves  by  their  own  light.  The  kingdom  of 
God  Cometh  not  with  observation.  Luther  simply  followed  the 
leadings  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  struggles  of  his  own  soul.  He 
wrought  out  what  the  inward  impulses  of  his  own  breast  prompted 
him  to  work,  and  behold,  before  he  w^as  aware,  he  was  in  the  midst 
of  the  Eeformation.  So,  too,  it  was  with  the  Plymouth  pilgrims, 
with  their  sermons  three  times  a  day  on  board  the  Mayjiowcr. 
Without  thinking  of  founding  an  empire,  they  obeyed  the  sublime 
teachings  of  the  Spirit,  the  promptings  of  duty  and  the  spiritual 
life.  God  working  mightily  in  the  human  heart  is  the  spring  of 
all  abiding  spiritual  power ;  and  it  is  only  as  men  follow  out  the 
sublime  promptings  of  the  inward  spiritual  life,  that  they  do  great 
things  for  God. 

The  movement  of  not  one  mind  only,  but  the  consentaneous 
movement  of  a  multitude  of  minds  in  the  same  direction,  consti- 
tutes what  is  called  the  spirit  of  the  age.  This  spirit  is  neither 
the  law  of  progress  nor  blind  development,  but  God's  all-eternal, 
all-embracing  purpose,  the  doctrine  which  recognises  the  hand  of 
God  in  all  events,  yet  leaves  all  human  action  free.  AVhen  God 
prepared  an  age  for  a  new  thought,  the  thought  is  thrust  into  the 
age  as  an  instrument  into  a  chemical  solution — the  crystals  cluster 
round  it  immediately.  If  God  prepares  not,  the  man  has  lived 
before  his  time.  Huss  and  Wycliffe  were  like  voices  crying  in  the 
wilderness,  preparing  the  way  for  a  brighter  future ;  the  time  had 
not  yet  come. 

Who  would  not  be  a  missionary  ?  "  They  that  be  wise  shall 
shine  as  the  brightness  of  the  firmament,  and  they  that  turn  many 


APPENDIX.  481 

to  righteousness  as  the  stars  for  ever  and  ever."  Is  God  not  pre- 
paring the  world  for  missions  which  will  embrace  the  whole  of 
Adam's  family  ?  The  gallant  steamships  circumnavigate  the  globe. 
Emigration  is  going  on  at  a  rate  to  which  the  most  renowned 
crusades  of  antiquity  bear  no  proportion.  Many  men  go  to  and 
fro,  and  knowledge  is  increased.  No  great  emigration  ever  took 
place  in  our  world  without  accomplishing  one  of  God's  great 
designs.  The  tide  of  the  modern  emigi'ation  flows  towards  the 
West.  The  wonderful  amalgamation  of  races  will  result  iu  some- 
thing grand.  We  believe  this,  because  the  world  is  becoming 
better,  and  because  God  is  working  mightily  in  the  human  mind. 
We  believe  it,  because  God  has  been  preparing  the  Avorld  for 
something  glorious.  And  that  something,  we  conjecture,  will  be  a 
fuller  development  of  the  missionary  idea  and  work. 

There  will  yet  be  a  glorious  consummation  of  Christianity. 
The  last  fifty  years  have  accomplished  wonders.  On  the  American 
Continent,  what  a  wonderful  amalgamation  of  races  we  have  wit- 
nessed, how  wonderfully  they  have  been  fused  into  that  one  American 
people — type  and  earnest  of  a  larger  fusion  which  Christianity  will 
yet  accomplish,  when,  by  its  blessed  power,  all  tribes  and  tongues 
and  races  shall  become  one  holy  family.  The  present  popularity 
of  beneficence  promises  well  for  the  missionary  cause  in  the  future. 
Men's  hearts  are  undergoing  a  process  of  enlargement.  Their 
sympathies  are  taking  a  wider  scope.  The  world  is  getting  closer, 
smaller — quite  a  compact  affair.  The  world  for  Christ  will  yet  be 
realised.  "  The  earth  shall  be  filled  with  the  knowledge  of  the 
Lord  as  the  waters  cover  the  sea." 


No.  II. 

TREATMENT  OF  AFRICAN  FEVER. 

In  July  1859,  when  the  expedition  to  the  Zambesi  had  been 
there  about  a  year,  Dr.  Livingstone  drew  up  and  forwarded 
to  Sir  James  Clark,  Bart.,  M.D.,  a  very  full  report  on  the  treatment 
of  African  fever.     The  report  details  at  length  a  large  number  of 

2  H 


482  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE. 

cases,  the  circumstances  under  wliicli  the  attack  was  experienced, 
the  remedies  administered,  and  their  effects.  In  order  to  ward  off 
the  disease  in  the  mangrove  swamps,  which  were  justly  described 
as  hotbeds  offerer,  a  dose  of  quinine  was  administered  daily  to  each 
European,  amounting  to  two  grains,  and  taken  in  sherry  wine. 
"When  an  attack  of  the  disease  occurred,  and  the  stomach  did  not 
refuse  the  remedies.  Dr.  Livingstone  administered  a  dose  of  calomel 
with  resin  of  jalap,  followed  by  quinine.  These  remedies  were  in 
almost  all  cases  successful,  and  the  convalescence  of  the  patient  was 
wonderfully  rapid.  The  "pills"  w^hich  Dr.  Livingstone  often 
referred  to  were  composed  of  resin  of  jalap,  calomel,  rhubarb,  and 
quinine.  It  was  usually  observed  that  active  employment  kept 
off  fever,  and  that  on  high  lands  its  attacks  were  much  less  violent. 
Where  the  stomach  refused  the  remedies  a  blister  was  usually  the 
most  effectual  means  of  stopping  the  sickness. 

Experience  did  not  confirm  the  prophylactic  action  of  quinine; 
exemption  from  attack  in  unfavourable  situations  was  rather 
ascribed  to  active  exercise,  good  diet,  and  to  absence  of  damp, 
exposure  to  sun,  and  excessive  exertion.  Even  while  navigating  an 
unhealthy  part  of  the  Shire,  and  while,  owing  to  the  state  of  the 
vessel,  the  beds  were  constantly  damp,  good  health  was  enjoyed, 
owing  to  regular  exercise  and  good  fare. 

In  the  upper  regions  of  the  Shire,  Dr.  Livingstone  says  he  and 
his  companions  were  exposed  in  the  early  hours  of  the  morning  to 
the  dew  from  the  long  grass,  marching  during  the  day  over  rough 
country  under  the  tropical  sun,  and  then  sleei)ing  in  the  open  air ; 
but  though  they  had  discontinued  the  daily  use  of  quinine  they 
were  perfectly  well,  as  were  also  their  native  attendants.  This 
was  one  of  the  considerations  that  gave  him  such  confidence  in  the 
healthiness  of  the  Shire  highlands. 

Two  or  three  years  later,  in  writing  to  a  friend,  Dr.  Livingstone 
thanked  him  for  having  sent  him  a  missionary  journal,  which  he 
greatly  enjoyed — The  News  of  the  Churches  and  Journal  of  Missions. 
To  show  the  very  unusual  pleasure  which  this  journal  gave  him, 
he  proposed  to  send  a  communication  to  the  editor,  but  said  he 
was  somewhat  afraid  to  do  so,  lest  it  should  meet  the  fate  of 
many  a  paper  forwarded  to  editors  at  an  earlier  period  of  his  life. 
]\Iustering  courage,  he  did  send  a  letter,  and  we  find  it  in  the 
number  of  the  journal  for  August  18G2,  It  is  entitled  "A  Note 
that  may  be  useful  to  Missionaries  in  Africa,"  and  consists  of  a 


APPENDIX.  483 

statement  of  the  remedy  for  fever,  and  an  account  of  its  operation. 
He  had  been  led  to  think  of  this  from  seeing  in  tlie  Ncic8  of  the 
Churches  for  February  1861  a  reference  to  liis  remedy  in  an  account 
of  the  death  of  the  Helmores.  The  proportions  of  the  several 
ingredients  are  given — "  for  a  full-grown  man  six  or  eight  grains  of 
resin  of  jalap,  and  the  same  amount  of  rhubarb,  with  four  grains 
of  calomel,  and  four  of  quinine,  made  into  pills  with  spirit  of 
cardamoms.  On  taking  effect,  quinine  (not  the  unbleached  kind), 
in  four  grains  or  larger  doses  is  given  every  two  hours  or  so,  till 
the  ears  ring,  or  deafness  ensues ;  this  last  is  an  essential  part  of 
the  cure." 

The  last  part  of  the  letter  is  a  description  of  Lake  Nyassa,  and 
a  statement  of  its  importance  for  purposes  of  civilisation  and 
Christianity. 

The  Neu's  of  the  Churches  was  projected  in  1854  by  the 
late  Eev.  Andrew  Cameron,  D.D.,  and  the  present  writer,  and 
conducted  by  them  for  a  time  ;  in  1862  it  was  in  the  hands  of  the 
Eev.  Gavin  Carlyle,  now  of  Ealing. 


No.  III. 

LETTER  TO  DR.  TIDMAN,  AS  TO  FUTURE  OPERATIONS. 

QuiLiMANE,  23i  May  1S56. 

The  Eev.  Dr.  Tidman. 

Dear  Sir, — Having  by  the  good  providence  of  our  Heavenly 
Father  reached  this  village  on  the  20th  curt.,  I  was  pleased  to  find 
a  silence  of  more  than  four  years  broken  by  your  letter  of  the 
24th  August  1855.  I  found  also  that  H.M.'s  brigantine  "Dart" 
had  called  at  this  port  several  times  in  order  to  offer  me  a  passage 
homewards,  but  on  the  last  occasion  in  which  this  most  friendly 
act  was  performed,  her  commander,  with  an  officer  of  marines  and 
five  seamen,  \vere  unfortunately  lost  on  the  very  dangerous  bar  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Quilimane  river.  This  sad  event  threw  a  cold 
shade  over  all  the  joy  I  might  otherwise  have  experienced  on 
reaching  the  Eastern  Coast.  I  felt  as  if  it  would  have  been  easier 
for  me  to  have  died  for  them  than  to  bear  the  thought  of  so  many 


484  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE. 

being  cut  off  from  all  the  joys  of  life  in  generously  attempting  to 
render  me  a  service.  As  there  is  no  regular  means  of  proceeding 
from  this  to  the  Cape,  I  remain  here  in  the  hope  of  meeting  another 
cruiser,  which  the  kindness  of  Commodore  Trotter  has  led  me  to 
expect,  in  preference  to  going  by  a  small  Arab  or  Portuguese 
trading  vessel  to  some  point  on  the  "overland  route  to  India." 
And  though  I  may  possibly  reach  you  as  soon  as  a  letter,  it  appears 
advisable  to  state  in  writing  my  thoughts  respecting  one  or  two 
very  important  points  in  your  communication. 

Accompanied  by  many  kind  expressions  of  approbation,  which 
I  highly  value  on  account  of  having  emanated  from  a  body  of  men 
whose  sole  object  in  undertaking  the  responsibility  and  labour  of 
the  Direction  must  have  been  a  sincere  desire  to  promote  the 
interests  of  the  kingdom  of  our  Lord  among  the  heathen,  I  find 
the  intimation  that  the  Directors  are  restricted  in  their  power  of 
aiding  plans  connected  only  remotely  with  the  spread  of  the 
gospel.  And  it  is  added  also,  that  even  though  certain  very 
formidable  obstacles  should  ju'ove  surmountable,  the  "financial 
circumstances  of  the  Society  are  not  such  as  to  afford  any  ground 
of  hope  that  it  would  be,  within  any  definite  period,  in  a  position 
to  enter  upon  untried,  remote,  and  difiicult  fields  of  labour." 

If  I  am  not  mistaken,  these  statements  imply  a  resolution  on 
the  part  of  the  gentlemen  now  in  the  Direction  to  devote  the 
decreasing  income  of  the  Society  committed  to  their  charge  to 
parts  of  the  world  of  easy  access,  and  in  which  the  missionaries 
may  devote  their  entire  time  and  energies  to  the  dissemination  of 
the  truths  of  the  gospel  with  reasonable  hopes  of  speedy  success. 
This,  there  can  be  no  doubt,  evinces  a  sincere  desire  to  perform 
their  duty  faithfully  to  their  constituents,  to  the  heathen,  and  to 
our  Lord  and  Master.  Yet  while  still  retaining  that  full  convic- 
tion of  the  purity  of  their  motives,  which  no  measure  adopted 
during  the  sixteen  years  of  my  connection  with  the  Society  has 
for  a  moment  disturbed,  I  feel  constrained  to  view  "  the  untried, 
remote,  and  difficult  fields,"  to  which  I  humbly  yet  firmly  believe 
God  has  directed  my  steps,  with  a  resolution  widely  different  from 
that  which  their  words  imply.  As  our  aims  and  purposes  will  now 
appear  in  some  degree  divergent — on  their  part  from  a  sort  of 
paralysis  caused  by  financial  decay,  and  on  mine  from  the  simple 
continuance  of  an  old  determination  to  devote  my  life  and  my  all 
to  the  service  of  Christ,  in  whatever  way  He  may  lead  me  in  inter- 


APPENDIX.  4S5 

tropical  Africa — it  seems  natural,  while  yet  without  the  remotest 
idea  of  support  from  another  source,  to  give  some  of  the  reasons  for 
differing  with  those  with  whom  I  have  hitherto  been  so  happily 
connected. 

It  remains  vividly  on  my  memory  that  some  twenty  years  ago, 
while  musing  how  I  might  spend  my  life  so  as  best  to  promote  the 
glory  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  I  came  to  the  conclusion  that  from  the 
cumulative  nature  of  gospel  influence  the  outskirts  even  of  the 
Empire  of  China  presented  the  most  inviting  field  for  evangelical 
effort  in  the  world.  I  was  also  much  averse  to  being  connected 
with  any  Society,  having  a  strong  desire  to  serve  Christ  in  circum- 
stances which  Avould  free  my  service  from  all  professional  aspect. 
But  the  solicitations  of  friends  in  whose  judgment  I  had  confidence 
led  to  my  offers  of  service  to  the  London  Missionary  Society.  The 
"  Opium  War "  was  then  adduced  as  a  reason  why  that  remote, 
difficult,  and  untried  field  of  labour  should  stand  in  abeyance  before 
the  interior  of  Africa,  to  which,  in  opposition  to  my  own  judgment, 
I  was  advised  to  proceed.  I  did  not,  however,  go  with  any  sort  of 
reluctance,  for  I  had  great  respect  for  the  honoured  men  by  whom 
the  advice  was  given,  and  unbounded  confidence  in  the  special 
providence  of  Him  who  has  said,  "  Commit  thy  way  unto  the  Lord, 
etc.  In  all  thy  ways  acknowledge  him,  and  he  shall  direct  thy 
steps."  I  was  contented  with  the  way  in  which  I  had  been  led, 
and  happy  in  the  prospect  of  being  made  instrumental  in  winning 
some  souls  to  Christ. 

The  Directors  wished  me  to  endeavour  to  carry  the  gospel  to  the 
tribes  north  of  the  Kuruman.  Having  remained  at  that  station 
sufficient  time  only  to  recruit  my  oxen,  I  proceeded  in  the  direction 
indicated,  and  while  learning  the  language  I  visited  the  Bakhatla, 
Bakwains,  Bangwaketse,  and  Bamangwato  tribes,  in  order  to  select 
a  suitable  locality  for  a  mission,  in  the  hope  of  succeeding  in 
making  a  second  Kuruman  or  central  station,  which  would,  by 
God's  blessing,  influence  a  large  circumference.  I  chose  Mabotsa, 
and  no  one  who  has  seen  that  country  since  has  said  the  choice 
was  injudicious.  The  late  Picv.  Dr.  Philip  alone  was  opposed  to 
this  plan  on  account  of  solicitude  for  my  safety,  "  because  Mosili- 
katse  was  behind  the  Cashan  mountains  thirsting  for  the  blood  of 
the  first  white  man  who  should  fall  into  his  hands.  And  no  man 
would  in  his  sober  senses  build  his  house  on  the  crater  of  a 
volcano."     Having  removed  to  the  Bakwains  of  Sechele,  I  spent 


486  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE. 

some  of  the  happiest  years  of  my  life  in  missionary  labour,  and 
was  favoured  in  witnessing  a  gratifying  measure  of  success  in  the 
spread  of  the  knowledge  of  the  gospel.  The  good  seed  was  widely 
sown,  and  is  not  lost.  It  will  yet  bear  fruit,  though  I  may  not  live 
to  see  it.  In  the  pursuit  of  my  plan  I  tried  to  plant  among  the 
tribes  around  by  means  of  native  teachers  and  itineracies.  We 
have  heard  again  and  again  of  a  "  preparatory  work  going  on  "  in 
India,  but  who  ever  heard  of  such  in  Africa  ?  A  village  of  600  or 
800  may  have  one,  or  even  two  missionaries,  with  schoolmasters 
and  schoolmistresses,  and  the  nearest  population,  fifty  or  one 
hundred  miles  off,  cannot  feel  their  influence.  Believers  will  not, 
in  many  cases,  go  beyond  the  circle  of  their  own  friends  and 
acquaintances. 

I  was  happy  in  having  two  worthy  men  of  colour  to  aid  me  in 
diffusing  a  knowledge  of  Christ  among  the  Eastern  tribes,  but  the 
Boers  forbade  us  to  preach  unto  the  Gentiles  that  they  might  be 
saved.  My  attention  was  turned  to  Sebituane  by  Sechele  at  the 
very  time  this  happened,  but  I  had  no  intention  of  leaving  the 
Bakwains.  Droughts  succeeded,  and  these,  with  perpetual  threats 
and  annoyances  from  the  Boers,  so  completely  distracted  the 
mind  of  the  tribe  that  our  operations  were  almost  suspended.  It 
is  well  known  that  food  for  the  mind  has  but  little  savour  for 
starving  stomachs.  The  famine,  and  the  unmistakable  deter- 
mination of  the  Boers  to  enslave  my  people,  at  last  made  me  look 
to  the  north  seriously.  There  was  no  precipitancy.  Letters  went 
to  and  from  India  respecting  my  project  before  resolving  to  leave, 
and  I  went  at  last,  after  being  obliged  to  send  my  family  to 
Kuruman  in  order  to  be  out  of  the  way  of  a  threatened  attack  of 
the  Boers.  When  we  reached  Lake  'Ngami,  about  which  so  much 
has  been  said,  I  immediately  asked  for  guides  to  take  me  to 
Sebituane,  because  to  form  a  settlement  in  which  the  gospel  might 
be  planted  was  the  great  object  for  which  I  had  come.  Guides 
were  refused,  and  the  Bayeiye  were  prevented  from  ferrying  me 
across  the  Zouga.  I  made  a  raft,  but  after  working  in  the  water 
for  hours  it  would  not  carry  me.  (I  have  alwaj^s  been  thankful, 
since  I  knew  how  alligators  abound  there,  that  I  was  not  then 
killed  by  one.)  Next  year  affairs  were  not  improved  at  Kolobeng, 
and  while  attempting  the  north  again  fever  drove  us  back.  In 
both  that  and  the  •  following  year  I  took  my  family  with  me  in 
order  to  obviate  the  loss  of  time  which  returning  for  them  would 


APPENDIX.  4S7 

occasion.     The  Boers  subsequently,  by  relieving  mc  of  all  my 
goods,  freed  me  from  the  labour  of  returning  to  Kolobeng  at  all. 

Of  the  circumstances  attending  our  arrival  at  Sebituane's,  and 
the  project  of  opening  up  a  path  to  the  coast,  you  are  already  so 
fully  aware,  from  having  examined  and  awarded  your  approbation, 
I  need  scarcely  allude  to  it.  Double  the  time  has  been  expended 
to  that  which  I  anticipated,  but  as  it  chiefly  arose  from  sickness, 
the  loss  of  time  was  unavoidable.  The  same  cause  produced 
interruptions  in  preaching  the  gospel — as  would  have  been  the 
case  had  I  been  indisposed  anywhere  else. 

The  foregoing  short  notices  of  all  the  plans  which  I  can  bring 
to  my  recollection  since  my  arrival  in  Africa  lead  me  to  the 
question,  which  of  the  plans  it  is  that  the  Directors  particularise 
when  they  say  they  are  restricted  in  their  power  of  aiding  plans 
only  remotely  connected  with  the  spread  of  the  gospel.  It  cannot 
be  the  last  surely,  for  I  had  their  express  approval  before  leaving 
Cape  Town,  and  they  yield  to  none  in  admiration  of  the  zeal  with 
which  it  has  been  executed.      Then  which  is  it  ? 

As  it  cannot  be  meant  to  apply  in  the  Avay  of  want  of  funds 
deciding  the  suspension  of  operations  which  would  make  the 
connection  remote  enough  with  the  spread  of  the  gospel  by  us,  I 
am  at  a  loss  to  understand  the  phraseology,  and  therefore  trust 
that  the  difficulty  may  be  explained.  The  difficulties  are  men- 
tioned in  no  captious  spirit,  though,  from  being  at  a  loss  as  to  the 
precise  meaning  of  the  terms,  I  may  appear  to  be  querulous.  I  am 
not  conscious  of  any  diminution  of  the  respect  and  affection  with 
which  I  have  always  addressed  you. — I  am,  yours  affectionately, 

David  Livingston. 


No.  IV. 

LOED  clarendon's  LETTER  TO  SEKELETU. 

From  The  Earl  of  Clarendon,  Princiixd  Secretary  of  State  for 
Foreign  Affairs  of  Her  Majesty  the  Queen  of  Great  Britain, 
to  our  esteemed  Friend  Sekeletu,  Cliief  of  the  Makololo,  in 
South  Central  Africa. 

The  Queen  our  Sovereign  and  the  British  Government  have 
learnt  with  much  pleasure  fi-om  Her  Majesty's  servant,  Dr.  Living- 


488  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE. 

stone,  the  kind  manner  in  which  you  co-operated  with  him  in  his 
endeavours  to  find  a  path  from  your  country  to  the  sea  on  the 
West  Coast,  and  again,  when  he  was  following  the  course  of  the 
river  Zambesi  from  your  town  to  the  Eastern  Coast,  by  furnishing 
him  on  each  occasion  with  canoes,  provisions,  oxen,  and  men,  free 
of  expense ;  and  we  were  pleased  to  hear  that  you,  your  elders 
and  people,  are  all  anxious  to  have  direct  intercourse  with  the 
English  nation,  and  to  have  your  country  open  to  commerce  and 
civilisation. 

Ours  is  a  great  commercial  and  Christian  nation,  and  we  desire 
to  live  in  peace  with  all  men.  We  wish  others  to  sleep  soundly 
as  well  as  ourselves  :  and  we  hate  the  trade  in  slaves.  We  are  all 
the  children  of  one  common  Eather;  and  the  slave-trade  being 
hateful  to  Him,  we  give  you  a  proof  of  our  desire  to  promote  your 
prosperity  by  joining  you  in  the  attempt  to  open  up  your  country 
to  peaceful  commerce.  With  this  view  the  Queen  sends  a  small 
steam-vessel  to  sail  along  the  river  Zambesi,  which  you  know  and 
agreed  to  be  the  best  pathway  for  conveying  merchandise,  and  for 
the  purpose  of  exploring  which  Dr.  Livingstone  left  you  the  last 
time.  This  is,  as  all  men  know,  "  God's  pathway ;"  and  you  will, 
we  trust,  do  all  that  you  can  to  keep  it  a  free  pathway  for  all 
nations,  and  let  no  one  be  molested  when  travelling  on  the 
river. 

We  are  a  manufacturing  people,  and  make  all  the  articles  which 
you  see  and  hear  of  as  coming  from  the  white  men.  We  purchase 
cotton  and  make  it  into  cloth ;  and  if  you  will  cultivate  cotton 
and  other  articles,  we  are  willing  to  buy  them.  No  matter  how 
much  you  may  produce,  our  people  will  purchase  it  all.  Let  it  be 
known  among  all  your  people,  and  among  all  the  surrounding 
tribes,  that  the  English  are  the  friends  and  promoters  of  all  lawful 
commerce,  but  that  they  are  the  enemies  of  tlie  slave-trade  and 
slave-hunting. 

We  assure  3'ou,  your  elders  and  people,  of  our  friendship,  and 
we  hope  that  the  kindly  feelings  which  you  entertain  towards  the 
English  maybe  continued  between  our  children's  children;  and, 
as  we  have  derived  all  our  greatness  from  the  Divine  religion  we 
received  from  Heaven,  it  will  be  well  if  you  consider  it  carefully 
when  any  of  our  people  talk  to  you  about  it. 

We  hope  that  Her  IMajesty's  servants  and  people  will  be  able 
to  visit  you  from  time  to  time  in  order  to  cement  our  friendship. 


APPENDIX.  489 

and  to  promote  mutual  welfare :  and,  in  the  meantime,  we  recom- 
mend you  to  the  protection  of  the  Almighty. 

Written  at  London,  the  nineteenth  day  of  February  1858. — 
Your  affectionate  friend,  p   vrFvnnM 

Letters  similar  to  the  above  were  sent  to  many  of  the  other 
chiefs  known  to  Livingstone. 


No.  V. 

rUBLIC  HONOUKS  AWAKDED  TO  DR.  LIVINGSTONE. 

A  complete  list  of  these  honours  is  not  easy  to  construct;  the 
following  may  be  regarded  as  embracing  the  chief,  but  it  does  not 
embrace  mere  addresses  presented  to  him,  of  which  there  were 
many  : — 

1850.  Royal  Geographical  Society  of  London  award  him  the  Royal 
Donation  of  25  guineas,  placed  by  Her  Majesty  at  the  disposal 
of  the  Council  (Silver  Chronometer). 

1854.  French  Geographical  Society  award  a  Silver  Medal. 
1854i  University  of  Glasgow  confer  degree  of  LL.D. 

1855.  Royal   Geographical   Society  of  London  award  Patron's   Gold 

Medah 

1857.  French  Geographical  Society  award  annual  prize  for  the  most 
important  geographical  discovery. 

1 857.  Freedom  of  City  of  London,  in  box  of  value  of  fifty  guineas,  as  a 
^  testimonial  in  recognition  of  his  zealous  and  persevering  exer- 
tions in  the  important  discoveries  he  has  made  in  Africa,  by 
which  geographical,  geological,  and  their  kindred  sciences  have 
been  advanced ;  facts  ascertained  that  may  extend  the  trade 
and  commerce  of  this  country,  and  hereafter  secure  to  the 
native  tribes  of  the  vast  African  continent  the  blessings  of 
knowledge  and  civiUsation. 

1857.  Freedom  of  City  of  Glasgow,  presented  in  testimony  of  admira- 
tion of  his  undaunted  intrepidity  and  fortitude  amid  diffi- 
culties, privations,  and  dangers,  during  a  period  of  many 
years,  while  traversing  an  extensive  region  in  the  interior  of 
Africa,  hitherto  unexplored  by  Europeans,  and  of  appreciation 
of  the  importance  of  his  services,  extending  to  the  fostering 
of  commerce,  tlie  advancement  of  civilisation,  and  the  diffusion 
of  Christianity  among  heathen  nations. 


490  DAVJD  LIVINGSTONE: 

1857.  Freedom  of  City  of  Edinburgh,  of  Dundee,  and  many  other  towns. 

1857.  Corresponding  Member  of  American  Geographical  and  Statis- 
tical Society,  New  York. 

1857.  Corresponding  Member  of  Eoyal  Geographical  Society  of 
London. 

1857.  Corresponding  Member  of  the  Geographical  Society  of  Paris. 

1857.  Corresponding  Member  of  the  K.  K.  Geographical  Society  of 
Vienna. 

1857.  The  Faculty  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  of  Glasgow  "elect  that 
worthy,  eminent,  and  learned  Surgeon  and  Naturalist,  David 
Livingstone,  LL.D.,  to  be  an  Honorary  Fellow." 

1857.  Medal  awarded  by  the  Universal  Society  for  the  Encouragement 
of  Arts  and  Industry. 

1857.  University  of  Oxford  confer  degree  of  D.C.L. 

1857.  Elected  F.R.S. 

1858.  Appointed    Commander    of    Zambesi     Expedition    and    Her 

Majesty's  Consul  at  Tette,  Quilimane,  and  Senna. 

1872.  Gold  Medal  awarded  by  Italian  Geographical  Society. 

1874.  A  memoir  of  Livingstone  having  been  read  by  the  Secretary  at 
a  meeting  of  the  Eussian  Geographical  Society,  cordially 
recognising  his  merit,  the  whole  assembly-— a  very  large  one 
— by  rising,  paid  a  last  tribute  of  respect  to  his  memory. — 
Lancet,  7th  March  1874. 

Any  omissions  in  this  list  notified  to  the  author  will  be  sui^plied 
in  future  editions. 


INDEX. 


Abyssinia,  41,  51,  352. 

Acacias,  40. 

Aden,  451. 

African  Exploration  Society,  466. 

Ajawa,  285,  286,  2S9,  294,  29G,  313. 

Alexander,  Cajitain  Sir  James  E.,  103. 

Alexandria,  337,  451. 

Algoa  Bay,  37,  39. 

Alington,  Rev.  Charles,  314,  316. 

Aliw^al,  310. 

Alligators,  101,  158,  268. 

Aloes,  40,  440. 

Ambaca,  167. 

American  Foreign  ^lission  Board,  470. 

Amoda,  a  Shupanga  man,  370. 

Anderson's  College,  Glasgow,  20. 

Angola,  191,  202,  268,442. 

Antelopes,  106. 

Ants,  276,  277,  414  ;  attack  by,  440. 

Apples,  396. 

Apricots,  396. 

Arabs,  slave-traders,  118,323,  372,374, 
378,  ,385,  391,  443;  travel  across 
Africa,  193  ;  dhow  on  Lake  Nyassa, 
288  ;  character  and  i-eligion  of,  317, 
438  ;  kindness  of  Arab  traders  to 
Livingstone,  384,  413  ;  Livingstone 
condemns  evil  deeds  of,  401  ;  massacre 
of  Bagenya  by,  410 ;  Livingstone 
plundered  by,  388,  412  ;  war  with 
Mirambo,  419,  430,  441  ;  Livingstone 
wins  hearts  of,  423. 

Argyll,  Duke  of,  5,  236,  202,  312,  353. 

"Ariel,"  H.M.S.,  325-327. 

Arnold,  Edwin,  466. 

Arrovvsmitli,  John,  456. 

Asclepias,  440. 

Ashton,  Itev.  Wai.,  123. 

"Athenaeum,"  214,  366. 

Aven,  Connnissionei',  135. 

Awathe,  408. 

Bab  A,  71. 

Baenda-Pezi,  270. 

Bagamoio,  418  et  serj.,  434  et  scq. 

Bagenya,  410. 


Baines,  Thomas,  230,  252. 

Bakaa,  48,  55. 

Bakalahari,  54,  123. 

Baker,  Sir  Samuel,  360,  466. 

Bakhalaka,  80. 

Bakhatla,  53,  58,  60,  62,  65,  77,  134. 

Bakoba,  102,  106. 

Bakuss,  411. 

Bakwains,  45.    54,   55,   76,    81,  87.   90, 

104,  \20etiieq.,  134,  142,  194,  304. 
Ballantyne,  R.  M.,  322. 
Balonda,  173. 
Balsams,  440. 

Bamangwato,  47,  106,  123. 
Bambarre,  392,  401,  407. 
Banana,  394. 

Bandeira,  Viscount  de  Sa  da,  303. 
Bangwaketse,  134. 
Bang  we,  319. 
Bungweolo,  Lake,  or  Bemba,  383,  3S5- 

387,  390,  390,  398,  414,  425,434,  436, 

439,  442,  453,  467  ;  discovery  of,  386. 
Banians,  407,  409,  411,  443. 
Banyamwezi,  397,  410,  412. 
Banza  Noki,  465. 
Baobab-tree,  299. 
Baptist  Missionary  Society,  470. 
Barotse,   122,    141    ct  seq.,    153    et    seq., 

174,207,  469. 
Basango,  399. 
Bashinge,  172. 
Bashu-kulompo,  189. 
Bath,  212,  295. 

Bazimka  (Bastard  Portuguese),  180. 
Bazizulu,  271. 
Beatoun,  physician   to  the  Lord  of  t'.ie 

Isles,  2." 
Bechuana,  39  et  seq.,  81,    106,  128,  191, 

417,  428. 
Bediugfield,  Commander,  R.N.,  230. 
Bee-eater,  277- 
Beer,  142. 
Bellevue,  114. 
Beloochees,  351. 
Belshore,  foraj's  of,  308. 
Bemba,  Lake.     See  Bangweolo. 


492 


INDEX. 


Benguela,  102,  193,  280,  466,  470. 

.St.  Philip  de,  145. 

Bennett,  He  v.  Dr.,  31. 

James  Gordon,   junior,    41.3,  417, 

428,  441. 

J.  llisdon.  M.D.,  31,  01,  SO  ;  letter 

to,  50,  54  ;  recoUeetions  by,  31,  32, 
211. 

Bible,  0,  52,  55,  77,  123,  120,  138,  155, 
158,  180,  194,  277,  333,  4Jl,  403. 

Bilie,  470. 

Binney,  Bev.  Dr.,  29. 

Black,  Bev.  Dr.,  470. 

Blantyre,  in  Lanarkshire,  4  et  seq.,  16, 
17,  20.  3(5,  124,  210,  220,  223. 

on  the  .Shire,  409. 

Boers  drive  ^Mosilikatse  westward,  43, 
79  ;  found  Transvaal  republic,  78 ; 
policy  towards  natives,  80  et  sfq.,  136, 
172  ;  turn  out  missionaries,  106,  162, 
210  ;  raids  on  Kolobeng,  110,  121, 
133  et  seq.,  194  ;  attack  Sechele,  126  ; 
Livingstone  exposes  in  papers,  127, 
128  ;  slave-trade  among  the,  135. 

Bogs,  or  earth  sponges,  386,  414,  415, 
440. 

Bombay,  247,  322,  328  et  wq.,  361  et  seq., 
427  ;  missionary  institntious  at,  336. 

Bishop  of,  361. 

Bootchap,  fossils  of,  S3. 

Botau}'.  See  Acacia,  Aloes,  Apples,  Apri- 
cots, Asclepias,  Balsams,  Banana,  Bao- 
bab-tree, Carnivorous  plants,  Cassaba, 
Castor-oil,  Clematis,  Coffee,  Cotton, 
Dill,  Ergot  of  rye.  Gladiolus,  Ground- 
nuts, Gum-copal,  H-jlcuserghum,  India- 
rubber,  Indigo,  Maize, Manioc,  Mapira, 
Marigolds,  Methonica  gloriosa.  Mimo- 
sa, Myonga-tree,  Mvula-tree,  Orchids, 
Palm,  Palm-oil,  Papyrus,  Parsnips, 
Peaches,  Peas,  Plantain,  Polygalas, 
Pomegranate  flowers.  Potatoes  (sweet), 
Pumpkins,  Spider  wort,  Sugar-cane, 
Tobacco,  Wheat,  Yams. 

Botha,  trial  of,  129. 

Bourbon,  254. 

Bowen,  Dr.,  of  Sierra  Leone,  267. 

Boj'd,  Bev.  D.  C,  recollections  bj^,  362. 

Braithwaite,  J.  B.,  229,  255,  267. 

Brand,  Consul,  203. 

Brazza,  M.  de,  467. 

Brebner,  Mr.,  368. 

"  British  and  Foreign  Medical  Be  view," 
S2. 

British  Association  at  Bath,  212,  342; 
at  Brighton,  431  ;  at  Dublin,  217,  230; 
at  Sheffield,  20 J. 


"  British  Banner,"  96,  127. 

"  British  Quarterly  Beview,"  127. 

Brougham,  Lord,  130. 

Broughton,  Lord,  339. 

Brown,  Alexander,  recollections  by,  SG3. 

Bubi,  45,  48,  54,  76  ;  death  of,  47. 

Buchan,  Bev.  Mr.,  343. 

Buchanan,  Dr.  Andrew,  21. 

Buckland,  Proft-ssor.  61,  83. 

Buckley,  Patrick,  379. 

Buffaloes,  364,  371,394. 

Burdett-Coutts,  Baroness,  255,  304,  353. 

Burke.  Thomas,  16,  17. 

Burrup,  Bev.  Mr.,  and  Mrs.,   289,  291, 

293,  296,  301. 
Burton,    Captain,   265,    206,    348,    353, 

363,  406. 
Bushmen,  51,  142. 
Buxton,  Sir  Powell,  267. 

Cabaxgo,  109,  184. 

Caffre  War,  128,  129,  179,  233,  441. 

CaEfres,  4,  82,  90,  12S,  167. 

Calcraft,  Mr.,  M.P.,  231,  341. 

"Calcutta"  (vessel),  451. 

"  Cambrian,"  H.M.,S.,  248. 

Cambridge,  225  et  seq. 

Caraelopard,  83. 

Camels,  276,  371. 

Cameron,    Lieutenant,     B.X.,    448-450, 

466. 
Cameroons,  Mount,  470. 
Candido,  Senhor,  308. 
Canoes,  102,  156,  180,  279,  392,  408. 
Canterburj"-,  Archbishop  of,  353. 
Cape,  The,  37-39,  41,  78,   129,  245,  248, 

283,  297,  310. 
Cape  Town,  38,  103,  124,  130,  198,  247  ; 

Bishop  of,  296  ;  meeting  at,  205. 
Carlisle,  Earl  of,  225. 
Carnivorous  plants.  414. 
Casembe,  383,  384^  395,  396,  442. 
Cashan  Mountains,  or  Magaliesberg,  90. 
Cassaba,  394. 
Cassange,  151,  166. 
Castor-oil,  323. 

"  Catholic  Presbyterian,"  128. 
Cecil,  Rev.  Richard,  26-29,  37. 
Challis,  Alderman,  102. 
Chambeze,  river,  383,  434,  439,  442. 
Chanyuni,  184. 
Chapman,  Captain,  R.N.,  326. 
Cbibisa,  254,  255,  285,  287,   289,  308, 

311,  371. 
Chiboque,  159. 
Chicova,  279. 
Chigunda,  285. 


INDEX. 


493 


Cliimbwe,  river,  3S1. 

Chimnis,  Lieutenant,  R.N.,  197. 

Chinsamba's  in  Mosapo,  319. 

"Chitane,",tlie  dog,  3S1. 

Cbitimba,  383. 

Cbitambo,  446,  447. 

Cbippiiig  Ongai',  20,  27. 

Chobe,  river,  117,  142. 

Cliolera,  399,  407. 

Cliougwe,  river,  273. 

Chonuane,  7G  et  seq.,  84,  TG,  472. 

Clioiil  Rock,  near  Bombay,  334. 

Chowambe,  Lake,  389. 

Cbuma,  329,   338,  371,  401,  40.1,   419, 

447. 
Cbungu,  442. 

Church  Missionary  Society,  464,  469. 
Clarendon,  Earl   of,  165,  230-232,  255, 

421  ;   liis  letter  to  Sekeletu,  487. 
Clark,  Mr.,  of  Ulva,  3. 
Clematis,  440. 
Coanza,  river,  193,  470. 
Coffee.  191. 

Coleiiso,  Bishop,  343,  34 i. 
Colesberg,  70. 
Colly er,  Mr.,  329. 
Comljer,  Rev.  J.  T.,  470. 
Congo,  or  Livingstone  River,  387,  396, 

408,    435,   436,   450,    470;    Staidey's 

exploration  of,  465. 
Cook,  J.  S.,  33. 
Copper,  80,  398,  434, 
Corrientes,  Caiic,  247. 
Cotton,  80,  191,  219,  2G0,  202,  284,  323, 

414. 
Cotton-fields,  266,  273. 
Cranes,  crowned,  277. 
Cranwortb,  Lord,  231. 
Crawford,  John,  366. 
Cul])epper's  "Herbal,"  12. 
Cunnning,  Gordon,  87,  1  14. 
Cunningham,  James,  234. 
Cypriano  de  Abrao,  161. 

Dahomey,  318. 

"  Daily  Telegraph,"  393,  4CG. 

Dalhousie,  Earl  of,  348, 

Dapuri,  335. 

Dar  es  Salaam,  466. 

"  Dart,"  H.M.S.,  194. 

Dauma,  322. 

Dawson,  Lieut.,  E.N".,  430,  431,439,  450. 

Decken,  Baron  van  dei",  363. 

Delgado,  Cai)e,  359. 

Denhardts,  Herr,  466. 

Derby,  Earl  of,  353. 

Desiccation  of  Africa,  CI. 


Dezi,  404. 

Diarrhroa,  248. 

Dickenson,  Rev.  Mr.,  311. 

Dick's  "Philosophy  of  a  Future  State," 
14,  35. 

Dill,  440. 

Dillon,  Dr.,  447  ;  death  of,  449. 

Diseases.  Sec  Cholera,  Diarrha?a,  Dysen- 
tery, Erysi{)elas,  Fever,  H;emorrhage, 
Ha?morrhoids,  Leprosy,  Ophthalmia, 
Pneumonia. 

Dolphins,  331. 

Donaldson,  Captain,  37. 

Dublin,  visit  to,  217. 

Duff,  Rev.  Dr.,  3-12. 

Dugnmbe,  407,  409-411. 

Dunmore,  Lord  and  Ladj',  339. 

Dysentery',  154,  163,  449. 

Eaedley,  Sir  Culling,  231. 
Eastlake,  Sir  Charles,  353. 
"  Eclectic  RevicAV,"  82. 
Edinburgh  Medical  Jlission,  470. 
Edinburgh,  visit  to,  224. 
Edwardes,  Sir  Herbert,  1 14, 
Egypt,  336,  352,  376. 

Khedive  of,  463. 

Egj'ptian  literature,  96. 

Elephants,  87,  101,  113,  257,  2S7,  SCi. 

Ellesmere,  Lord,  160. 

Elton,  Consul,  468. 

Elwin,  Mr.,  .353. 

Embomma,  465. 

Ergot  of  rye,  83. 

Erysipelas,  441. 

"Evangelical  Magazine,"  70,  S2. 

Eyre,  Governor,  354. 

"  Examiner,"  366. 

Faulkner,  Henry,  379. 

Fergusson,  Sir  "William,  451,  452. 

Fernando  Po,  89,  348. 

Fever,  61,  83,  104,  125,  154,  187,  279, 
371  ;  Thomas  Livingstone  attacked 
by,  114;  Livingstone's  remedv  for, 
138,  229,  275,  481  ;  Livingstone 
attacked  b}',  on  journey  to  Loanda, 
154,  158,  160;  at  Loanda,  163;  in 
Nyassa  district,  311;  in  Bangweolo 
district,  382  ;  Kirk's  experiments  on 
medicine  for,  271  ;  Mr.  and  ^Irs, 
Helmore  succumb  to,  274  ;  illness  and 
death  of  members  of  Universities 
Mission  from,  311  ;  suicide  of  Dr. 
Dillon  through,  449;  Robert  Moffat 
dies  of,  449. 

Fischer,  Dr.,  466. 


494 


INDEX. 


Fish  eagle,  445. 

Fish  that  live  on  lanrl,  414. 

Fisk  University,  Tennessee,  471. 

Fitch,  Frederick,  212,  287,  295,  319  ; 
reminiscences  hy,  212. 

Fleming,  George,  133,  137,  140,  141, 
150,  207. 

Eev.  Mr.,  343. 

"  Forerunner,"  mail  packet,  171,  195. 

Fossils,  62,  S3. 

Francisco  at  Shnpanga,  254. 

Franklin,  Lafly,  341,  356. 

Fraser,  Rev.  Mr.,  of  Ulva.  342. 

Fredoux,  Rev.  ]\lr.,  of  Motito,  106. 

Freeman,  Rev.  J.  J.,  37,  95. 

Frere,  Sir  Bartle,  ojii.iion  of  Livingstone, 
34,  377,  455,  456  ;  opinion  of  Charles 
Livingstone,  89  ;  receives  Livingstone 
at  Bombay,  355,  331,  364,  366  ;  recom- 
mendation to  Sultan  of  Zanzibar,  368  ; 
Lufira  named  after  liim,  402  ;  mission 
to  Zanzibar,  411,  450,  462;  obituary 
notice  of  Livingst  me.  68,  455. 

Frere,  Lady,  336,  3f)l  ;  Frere,  Miss,  361. 

"Frolic,"  H.M.S.,  196. 

Gabriel,  Edmund,  163,  164,  167,  190, 
203. 

Galton,  Fj-ancis,  103. 

Gardner,  Rev.  Mr.,  of  Poona,  335. 

(attendant),  401. 

Geese,  spur-winged,  277. 

Geographical  Society,  Royal,  89,  103, 
214,  2.34,  280,  348,  351,  364,  390,  41.3, 
448,  406,  471  ;  Livingstone's  com- 
munications to,  61,  102,^127,  151,  161, 
167,  168,  178,  184,  208;  Oswell's 
communications,  84  ;  Livingstone 
awarded  twenty-five  guineas,  103  ; 
awarded  patron's  gold  medal,  201  ; 
Livingstone's  discoveries  called  in 
question  at,  280,  281  ;  contribute  aid 
to  Zambesi  Expedition,  358  ;  urge 
Livingstone  to  explore  central  water- 
shed, 375  ;  organise  E.  D.  Young's 
Search  Expedition,  379  ;  absurd  in- 
structions to  Livingstone,  400  ;  or- 
ganise Dawson's  Search  Expedition, 
430 ;  reception  of  Stanley,  432  ;  or- 
ganise Cameron's  Expedition,  449, 
450  ;  obituary  notice  of  Livingstone 
by  President,  68,  455. 

Geographical  Society  of  America,  490. 

of  Italy,  400. 

of  Paris,  489,  490. 

of  Rns>ia,  490. 

of  Vicnnii,  250,  490. 


Geology,  318,  373. 

"George,"  The,  37. 

Gilbert,  Mrs.,  28. 

Gladiolus,  440. 

Gladstone,  Right  Hon.  W.  E.,  341,  307, 

450. 
Glasgow,  7,  20  d  scq.,  219,  377. 
Goats,  141,  100,  394. 
Goderich,  Viscount,  255. 
Golungo  Alto,  166. 
Goodlake,  Mrs.,  346 
"  Good  Words,"  128. 
Gordon,  Colonel,  R.E.,  463. 
Lady  Duff,    "Letters  from  Egypt," 

361. 
"Gorgon,"  H.M.S.,   291,  292,  296,  302, 

311. 
Graham,  Dr.  Thomas,  21,  23. 
Grandy,  Lieutenant,  R.N.,  450,  451. 
Grant,  Captain,  344,  398,  437,  406. 
Granville,  Lord,  353. 
Greenhill,  Captain,  342. 
Grey,  Admiral  F.,  255. 

Earl,  236. 

Sir  George,  Governor  of  the  Cape, 

205,  246,  267. 
Griqu  aland,  121. 
Griqua  Town,  43,  133,  304. 
Griquas,  44,  121,  172. 
Ground-nuts,  394. 
Guinea-fowl,  373. 
Guinness,  Mrs.  Grattan,  "  The  Regions 

Beyond,"  470. 
Gum- copal,  414. 
Gutzlatf,  Mr.,  an  appeal  to  the  Churches 

on  behalf  of  China  by,  15,  IS,  35. 

H.-EMORRHAGE,  264,  411,  424,  444. 

Hiemorrhoids,  348,411. 

Hamilton,  5,  9,  207,  210,  221,  341,  342, 

343,  471. 
Rev.    Dr.,   353,    357  ;    death   of, 

357. 
Hankey  Missionary  Station,  40. 
Hannan,  Mr.,  223. 
Hanoverian  Missions,  275. 
Hang,  Dr.,  of  Poona,  336. 
Hawkins,  Rev.  E.,  291. 
Hay,  General,  196. 
Hay  ward,  Mr.,  Q.C,  351,  390. 
Helmore,  Rev.  Mr.,  274,  279,  315. 
Henderson,  Dr.  Jolin,  19. 
Henn,  Lieutenant,  R.N.,  430,  431. 
"Hermes,"  H.M.S.,  248. 
Herodotus,  376. 
Herschel,  Sir  John,  168. 
Hill,  Governor,  of  Sierra  Leone,  245. 


INDEX. 


495 


Hippopotamus,  13S,  15S. 

Hogg,  David,  IG,  17. 

Holcuserglium,  394. 

Holland,  Sir  Henry,  353. 

Honolulu,  Queen  Emma  of,  3o6. 

Hooker,  Sir  W.,  242. 

Hottentots,  40,  41. 

Houghton,  Lord,  339. 

Howe,  .John,  108. 

Humming-birds,  40. 

Hunter,  Gavin,  6  ;   David,    liis    son,  6  ; 

Agnes,  .see  Mrs.  Neil  Livingstone. 
Hyenas,  14G,  397. 

Ibo,  280. 

Ilala,  446,  40 1,  472. 

Indiarul)l)er,  414. 

Indigo,  279,  323. 

Inscription  on  tomb  of  Dr.  Livingstone 

in  Westminster  Abbey,  453. 
Inveraray,  5,  342. 
Iron,  80,  273. 
Itawa,  392. 
Ivory,  101,  120,  172,  174,  388,  404. 

Jehan,  John,  310. 

J(dianna,  310,  328,  395. 

Johanna  men,   310,  370,  372,  378,  384, 

395. 
Johnston,  Alexander  Keith,  4GG. 
Juba,  river,  3G3. 

Kabompo,  189. 

Kalahari  Desert,  47,  99,  318. 

Kalosi,  272. 

Kamati,  117. 

Kamolondo,  Lake,  434,  430. 

Karagwe,  river,  389,  397. 

Kasekera,  448,  449. 

Kasunga,  378. 

Katanga,  398,  409,  434. 

Kebrabasa  Rapids,  247,  251,  2GG,  269. 

Kennery,  Caves  of,  363. 

Kilwa,  392. 

King,  Dr.,  R.N.,  248. 

Kiniuiird,  Lord,  255. 

Kirk,  John,  M.D.,  421,427  ;  member  of 
Zambesi  Expedition,  230,  251,  2.JG, 
206  at  seq.,  287  et  seq.,  308,  311  ; 
Livingstone  reconmiends  for  Govern- 
ment appointment,  348,  349  ;  in  Lon- 
don, 356;  appointed  to  Zanzibar,  306  ; 
believes  Musa's  story,  378  ;  applied 
to  for  stores  by  Livingstone,  388 ; 
labours  to  stop  slave-trade,  406,  407, 
444,  463  ;  complaints  of  Livingstone 
to,  434  ;  at  Livingstone's  funeral,  452. 


Kirk,  Rev.  Professor,  of  Edinburgh, 
Kirsty's  Rock,  in  Ulva,  3. 
Koli.l)eng,  84  et  seq.,  99  ct  seq.,  133, 

137,  304,  473  ;  destruction  of,  by 

Boers,  133-135. 
Kong.ine,  249,  255,  257,  265,   269, 

291,  299,  323,  326,442. 
Konokono,  277. 
Krieger,  Commandant,  90. 
Kroomen,  245,  248,  257,  465. 
Kuruman,    or  Lattakoo,    39    et    wq. 

etseq.,  106  et  seq.,  133  ef  .•iei/.,  172, 

245,  247,  264,  297,  301,  396,  471 


305. 

136, 

the 

277, 


,   65 
234, 


Laceiid.\,  Senhor,  192,  295,  345,  442. 
"  Lady  Nyassa"    (steamboat),    247,   252, 

288  et  seq.,   307    et   seq.,   325  et  seq., 

336,  350,  351,  300,  364. 
Lakes.       See     Bangweolo,     Chowambe, 

Kamolondo,  Lieniba,   Lincoln,  Woero, 

'Ngami,  Nyassa,  Shirwa,  Tanganyika, 

Ulenge,  Victoria  Nyanza. 
"  Lancet,"  82,  452,  457. 
Lansdowne,  Manjuis  of,  342. 
"Last  Journals  of  Livingstone,"  9,  327, 

402,   403,   409,   414,    435,   440,    447, 

453. 
Lavradio,  Count  de,  231. 
Lawrence,  Lord  Mayor,  339. 
Laws,  Dr.,  470. 
Layard,     Sir   Austen,    309,     339,     3.32, 

357. 
Lechulatebe,  99-101,  105. 
Leeba,  river,  151,  156,  189. 
Leeches,  381. 
Leifchild,  Dr.,  26. 
Leith,  Caj)tain,  335. 
Lenz,  Dr.,  466. 
Leprosy,  275. 
Lerimo,  276. 
Liambai  or  Leeambye,    144,    197,   402. 

See  Zambesi. 
Liemba,  Lake,  382,  383. 
Limaiie.  126,  1.34. 
Lincoln,  Lake,  402,  426,  434,  450. 
Link,  Dr.,  363. 
Lions,  47,  55,  93,   108,    137,   138, .  148, 

267  ;  Livingstone's  encounter  with,  at 

Mabotsa,  67  et  seq. 
Linyanti,    113,    137   et    seq.,    153,    170, 

176,    177,   179,    184,    187,    201,   234, 

251,  274,  281. 
Livingstone,  David,    family   of,    1-17; 

family  name,    1,2;   his  father,  5  ;  his 

mother,     6 ;     enters     cotton-sjjinning 

factory,  11;   student  life  in   Glasgow, 

19-23  ;    application   to    London    Mis- 


^o6 


INDEX. 


Livingstone,  David — confinncil. 

sionary  Society,  24,  25  ;  illness  of, 
35,  3G  ;  passes  licentiate  of  College  of 
Physicians  and  Surgeons,  Glasgow, 
36  ;  ordained  missionary,  37. 

Embarks  for  Africa,  37  ;  arrival  at 
Cape,  38,  39 ;  at  Hankey,  40 ;  arrival 
at  Kuruman,  41  ;  proceeds  north  to 
Bechiiana,  42,  43  ;  second  tour  to 
Bechuana,  45;  with  the  Bakwains,  45; 
third  tour  to  the  interior,  52  ;  returns 
to  Kuruman,  56  ;  views  a3  to  distri- 
bution of  missionaries,  57 ;  visits  Bak- 
hatla,  accompanied  by  Steele  and 
Priugle,  59  ;  encounter  wuth  a  lion, 
67-69;  marriage,  70-72;  at  Mabotsa. 
71-76;  at  Chonuane,  76-84;  work 
among  the  Bakwains  and  Bakhatla, 
78-81  ;  scientific  and  miscellaneous 
employmetits,  82  ;  removes  to  Kolo- 
beng,  84  ;  assists  Gordon  Cumming, 
87 ;  travels  north,  accompanied  by 
Murray  and  Oswell,  98  ;  his  jthilological 
studies,  96  ;  his  children,  97  ;  disco- 
very of  Lake  'Ngami,  101  ;  awarded 
twenty-five  guineas  by  Geographical 
Societ}',  103 ;  birth  and  death  of  his 
daughter  Elizabeth,  106  ;  claims  de- 
scent from  the  Puritans,  108  ;  grati- 
tude to  Oswell,  109;  dreadful  suffer 
ings  from  thirst,  109;  visits  Sebituane, 
110,  111;  birth  of  his  son  William 
Oswell,  114;  returns  to  the  Ca])e, 
127  ;  literary  work,  127  ;  "wife  and 
children  sail  for  England,  130  ;  at  the 
Cape,  129-133;  instructed  by  Maclear 
in  taking  observations,  132  ;  arranges 
to  direct  trading  operations,  133  ;  re- 
turns to  Kolobeng,  which  is  destroyed 
by  the  Boers,  133  ;  resolves  to  open  up 
Africa  or  perish,  136;  reaches  Lin- 
yanti,  137  ;  his  remedy  for  African 
fever,  138;  views  on  missionary  work, 
146  et  sc'/.,  475  et  sc-q.  ;  loses  his  jour- 
nal, 151. 

Journey  from  Linj'anti  to  Loanda 
and  Quilimane,  153-19S  ;  attacked  by 
fever  and  dysentery,  154  ;  his  feeling 
of  loneliness,  159  ;  kindly  received  by 
Portuguese,  162  ;  arrives  at  Loanda, 
163;  kindness  of  Gabriel,  163;  leaves 
Loanda  for  East  Coast,  166  ;  eulogised 
by  Sir  John  Herschel  in  the  Geogra- 
phical Society,  168  ;  awarded  gold 
medal  of  Geographical  Society,  169  ; 
favourably  impressed  by  Jesuit  Mis- 
sions,   172  ;    witnesses   painful  scenes 


Livingstone,  'Davu\-co)U'nniPiI. 

of  slave-trading,  172  ;  struck  down 
by  rheumatic  fever,  173  ;  reaches  Ba- 
rotse  Country,  174  ;  discovery  of  Vic- 
toria Falls,  179;  danger  from  hostile 
tribes,  ISO;  reaches  Tette,  190;  re- 
ceives great  kindness  from  Portufruese 
governor,  191  ;  writes  to  King  of  Por- 
tugal, 191  ;  reaches  Quilimane,  194; 
views  on  missionary  enterprise,  105  ; 
leaves  for  England,  196  ;  great  danger 
in  the  Bay  of  Tunis,  196  ;  arrives  in 
England,  197. 

First  visit  home,  198-240  ;  poetical 
welcome  of  his  wife,  199  ;  welcomed 
at  Geographical  Society,  201  ;  at 
London  Missionary  Society,  204;  at 
Mansion  House,  204 ;  visits  Hamil- 
ton, 207  ;  interview  with  Prince 
Consort,  213;  honours  paid  to  him, 
213;  publishes  "  Missionary  Travels,"' 
213  ;  his  generous  use  of  the  profits 
of  book,  215  ;  letter  to  a  Carlisle  lady 
justifying  his  conduct,  216  ;  visits 
Dublin,  217  ;  Manchester,  218  ;  and 
Glasgow,  219  ;  honours  to  Living- 
stone at  Glasgow.  219  ;  visits  Hamil- 
ton and  Blantyre,  221  ;  sj'nipathy 
with  operatives,  223  ;  views  on  social 
problems,  223 ;  visits  Edinlnirgh,  224  ; 
created  D.C.L.  Oxon.,  LL.D.  Glasgow, 
F.R.S.,  225;  visits  Oxford,  225; 
visits  Cambridge,  225;  delivers  course 
of  lectures  at  Caml)iidge,  227  ;  severs 
his  connection  with  London  Missionary 
Society,  228  ;  appointed  Consul  for 
eastern  coast  of  Africa,  230  ;  Zambesi 
expedition  organised,  230  ;  endeav  our 
to  obtain  assistance  of  Portuguese,  231  ; 
effect  of  his  visit  on  the  public,  233  ; 
interview  with  the  Queen,  235;  ])ul)lic 
banquet  in  Freemasons'  Tavern,  236  ; 
his  tribute  to  Mrs.  Livingstone,  237  ; 
letter  from  Professor  Sedgwick,  238. 

Exploration  of  Zambesi,  Eovuma, 
Nyassa,  and  Shire,  241-324  ;  sails 
from  Liver[iool,  241  ;  instructions 
to  members  of  Expedition,  241  ; 
reception  at  Ca[)e  Town,  246 , 
arrives  at  Kongone,  247  ;  proceeds 
up  the  Zambesi,  250;  collision  with 
naval  officer,  250 ;  undertakes  his 
duties,  250 ;  ajJi'lies  for  a  new 
steamer,  252  ;  explores  the  Shire, 
253 ;  discovers  Lake  Shirwa,  255  ; 
discovers  Lake  Nyassa,  258  ;  elected 
member    of   Geograpliical    Society   of 


INDEX. 


497 


Li viXGSToxE,  David — con thuied. 

Vienna,  259  ;  his  scher-.e  for  a  colony 
in  Xyassa  district,  2G1 ;  goes  home 
with  the  Makololo,  265  et  seq.  ;  disap- 
pointed with  the  '  Ma-Robert'  steamer, 
265 ;  letter  to  secretary  of  Universi- 
ties ilission,  266  ;  breaks  with  the 
Portuguese  authorities,  272  ;  reaches 
Victoria  Falls,  275  ;  returns  to  Tette, 
277  ;  discoveries  questioned  by  Mac- 
queeu  in  Geographical  Society,  2S0  ; 
'Pioneer'  steamer  received,  282  ; 
welcomes  Bishop  Mackenzie  and  Uni- 
versities ilission,  2S3  ;  rescues  slaves 
at  Mbane,  285  ;  explores  Lake  Xj'assa 
with  a  four-oared  boat,  287 ;  joined 
by  Mrs.  Livingstone  at  Liuibo,  291  ; 
death  of  Bishop  Mackenzie,  294 ;  blame 
of  Mackenzie's  difficulties  tlirown  upon 
him,  295  ;  birth  of  daughter  (Anna 
Mary),  297  ;  death  of  his  wife,  298  ; 
'  Lady  Nj'assa '  arrives  too  late  to  be 
of  use,  307  ;  explores  Kovuma,  307; 
pajier  war  with  Portuguese,  308  ;  his 
impressions  of  slave-trade  desolation, 
310 ;  receives  recall  of  Expedition, 
312  ;  great  discouragements  of  Living- 
stone, 315  ;  writes  to  Bishop  Tozer 
imploring  him  not  to  abandon  Uni- 
versities Mission,  320  ;  sends  rescued 
slaves  to  the  Cape,  322 ;  imminent 
peril  in  a  circular  storm,  326  ;  his 
voyage  from  Zanzibar  to  Bombay  in 
'  Lady  Njassa,'  328  ;  welcomed  by  Sir 
Bartle  Prere  at  Bombay,  335. 

Second  visit  home,  338-357 ;  ar- 
rives in  London,  338 ;  interviews 
with  Lord  Palmerston,  338  ;  death 
of  his  son  Robert,  340  ;  visits  Young 
of  Kelly,  341  ;  visits  the  Duke  of 
Argjdl,  342  ;  lectures  at  British  Asso- 
ciation, Batl),  343 ;  his  opinion  of 
Colenso,  344  ;  at  funeral  of  Captain 
Sjieke,  344  ;  visits  Webb  of  Xewstead 
Abbey,  346  ;  writes  "  The  Zambesi 
and  its  Tributaries,"  347  ;  urged  by 
Murchison  to  undertake  exploration  of 
Central  African  watershed  and  Xile 
sources,  349  ;  views  of  his  missionary 
duty,  350  ;  imgracious  ])roposal  of 
Foreign  Office,  352 ;  speaks  at  Royal 
Academj^  dinner,  353  ;  visits  Hamil- 
ton, 355. 

Last  expedition  to  Africa,  358-461 ; 
leaves  England  on  last  expedition, 
358  ;  object  of  last  expedition,  358  ; 
reaches  Bombay,  361  ;  lectures  there. 


LmxGSTOXE,  David — continued. 

364  ;  sells  the  '  Lady  Xyassa,'  364  ; 
leaves  Bombay  for  Zanzibar,  366 ; 
visits  the  Sultan  of  Zanzibar,  368  ; 
receives  firman  from  Sultan,  370 ; 
personnel  of  expedition,  370  ;  wit- 
nesses horrors  of  slave-trade,  372 ; 
theory  of  Xile  watershed,  376  ;  thinks 
that  Herodotus's  account  may  be 
true,  376 ;  object  of  his  ex]>edition 
defined  by  Sir  Bartle  Frere  in  Glas- 
gow, 377  ;  deserted  by  Johanna  men. 
378  ;  deserters'  lying  tale  of  his  death, 
378  ;  Search  Ex])edition,  379  (t  seq.; 
loses  his  medicine-chest,  382  ;  reaches 
Lake  Tanganyika,  382  ;  discovers 
Lake  Moero,  382  ;  discovers  Lake 
Baugweolo,  386 ;  his  sponge  theory  of 
sources  of  Xile,  Zambesi,  and  Congo, 
386;  illness  on  way  to  Ujiji,  387; 
reaches  Ujiji,  388  ;  plundered  by 
Arabs,  388 ;  starts  to  exploie  Mau- 
yuema  country,  391  ;  arrives  at  Bam- 
barre,  392  ;  letter  to  his  son  Thomas, 
describing  the  country  and  his  projects 
of  exi)loration,  394  ;  his  tribute  to 
Miss  Tinne,  398 ;  starts  to  explore 
Lualaba,  401  ;  driven  back  by  sore 
feet,  401  ;  reads  the  whole  Bible 
through  four  times,  403  ;  disappointed 
with  Banians'  slaves  sent  to  him  from 
Zanzibar,  407  ;  mutiny  among  his 
men,  408  ;  his  estimate  of  loss  owing 
to  inefficiency  of  followers,  408  ;  dis- 
appointment at  finding  Lualaba  runs 
W.S.W.,  408 ;  reaches  Xyangwe, 
408  ;  his  description  of  massacre  of 
Bagenya,  409  ;  sufferings  from  liffimor- 
rhoids,  411;  three  times  saved  from 
death  in  one  day,  412  ;  prostrated  by 
illness,  412  ;  reaches  L.'iji,  412  ;  Pro- 
fessor Owen's  tribute  to  his  scientific 
services,  414;  relieved  by  Stanley, 
413;  description  of  meeting,  419;  Stan- 
ley's imjuession  of  him,  422  ;  explores 
Tanganyika  with  Stanlej',424  ;  Stanley 
parts  from  him,  427  ;  detention  at 
Unyanyembe,  433;  jilan  of  new  jour- 
neys, 434  ;  complaints  to  Kirk,  435  ; 
opinion  of  Stanley's  behaviour,  435 ; 
fears  that  the  Lualaba  may  turn  out 
to  be  the  Congo,  435  ;  his  caution  in 
forming  judgments,  43<) ;  distress  on 
hearing  of  death  of  Murchison,  437 ; 
views  on  mission  work,  438  ;  excel- 
lence of  escort  sent  by  Stanlej',  439  ; 
travels  to  Tanganyika  and  Bangwcolo, 


2  I 


498 


INDEX. 


Livingstone,  David — continued. 

439  ;    liis    sutferings    through   floods, 

440  ;  his  last  letter  to  Maclear  and 
Maun,  441  ;  sufferings  of  liis  party 
from  erysipelas,  441  ;  last  efforts  to 
rouse  public  feeling  against  the  slave- 
trade,  443  ;  looks  upon  exploration  as 
only  a  means,  to  the  end  of  lighting 
the  slave-trade,  443  ;  illness  increases, 
444 ;  last  entry  in  journal,  445  ;  death 
in  Chitambo's  village,  44G  ;  remains 
conveyed  by  his  followers  to  Zanzibar, 
446 ;  conveyed  to  )Southampton  and 
to  London,  451  ;  identified  by  Sir 
Wm.  Ferguson  and  Dr.  Loudon,  452  ; 
funeral  in  Westminster  Abbey,  453. 

Livingstone,  Mrs.  (wife),  70,  79,  104  et 
sf-q.,  117,  203,  204,  237,  245,  266,  289, 
292,  315,  374,  452,  454;  marriage, 
72  ;  sails  for  England,  130  ;  poetical 
welcome  to  her  husband,  199  ;  sails  for 
Africa,  240,  241  ;  joins  Livingstone  on 
Zambesi,  291  ;  letters  to,  131,  166, 
172,  177,  196  ;  death  of,  297-299. 

Robert  (son),  79,  14S,  302,  339,  385 ; 

letters  to,  244,  286  ;  death  of,  340,348. 

Thomas  (son),275,  292,  451 ;  letters 

to,  148,  240,  373,  394  ;  death  of,  451. 

William    Oswell   (son),    114,    148, 

240,  241,  244,  245,  341,  355,  430,  431, 
437,  447. 

Agnes   (daughter),    191,   341,   343, 

346,  348,  352.  359,  457,  458  ;  letters 
to,  132,  138,  255,  303,  326,  361,  367, 
370,  399,  405,  434,  444. 

Anna  Mary  (daughter),  297,  341, 

356,  365. 

Eliza,beth  (daughter),  106,  137. 

Xeil  (father),  5,  17,  36,  54,  04,  124, 

148  ;  death  of,  197. 
Mrs.  Neil  (mother),  8,  9,  10,  36,  74, 

207,  263,  341  ;  death  of,  355. 
Charles  (brother),  18,   88,  89,  113, 

124,  230,  252,  256,  266  €<  seq.,  311, 

347,  348  ;  death  of,  89. 

John  (brother),  255,  400,  444. 

.  Charles  (uncle),  5. 

■  David  (nephew),  194. 

Livingstone  Central  African  Comj)an3', 
465,  469. 

Livingstone  Inland  Mission,  470. 

Livingstone  River.     See  Congo. 

Livingstonia,  224,  312,  321,  468,  471. 

Loanda,  St.  Paul  de,  145,  150,  153  et 
seq.,  178  et  seq.,  201  et  seq.,  234,  236, 
281,  450;  Livingstone  arrives  at,  163. 

Loangwa,  river,  156,  180. 


Loangwa  of  Xyassa,  river,  318. 
Lobale,  156. 
Logan,  William,  355. 
Lomame  (Young's  River),  409. 
Londa,  156,  173. 
London,  Bishop  of,  206,  353. 
London  City  Mission,  310. 
London  Missionary  Society,   24,  25,  36, 
42,88,  89,   102,  128,   151,  164,   195, 

204,  208,  216,  218,  228,  234,  247,  274, 
469;  Livingstone  joins,  37;  severs  his 
connection  with,  228. 

Lonta,  river,  205. 

Loudon,  Dr.,  356,  451. 

Lovedale,  321. 

Luabo,  291,  326,  442. 

Lualaba  (Webb's  River),  383,  387,  392, 

et  seq.,  434,  435. 
Luamo,  river,  393. 
Luanda,  383,  389. 
Luapula,  river,  383,  442,  446. 
Ludha  Damji,  427. 
Lutira,  river,  402. 
Lunda,  395,  422. 
Lupata,  277. 
Lusize,  river,  424. 
Lyell,  Sir  Charles,  344. 

Mabotsa,  65,  69,  71,  85,  86,  96,  296, 
472  ;  life  at,  74  ct  seq, 

Macfie,  R.  A.,  234. 

Macgregor,  Su-  Duncan,  218. 

Mackay,  Mr.,  of  Church  Missionary  So- 
ciety, 464. 

Mackenzie,  Bishop,  247,  282  et  seq.,  307, 
320,  321,  322,  374,  382  ;  death  of,  293. 

Miss,  289,  291,  293,  296,  301. 

Maclear,  Cape,  287- 

Maclear,  Sir  Thomas,  132,  205,  206,  246, 
249,  255,  261,  283,  320,  346;  opinion 
of    Livingstone   as  an    observer,    168, 

205,  456;  letters  to,  173,  180,  209, 
213,  225,  296,  309,  335,  384,  397,  404, 
426,  441. 

M'Leay,  the  Celtic  name  of  the  Living- 
stones, 1. 
Maclure,  Captain,  R.N.,  183,  194. 
Macquaries  family,  1. 
Macqueen,  Mr.,  280. 
M 'Robert,  Mrs.,  56,  68. 
M'William,  Dr.,  249. 
Mafite,  178. 

Magomero,  285,  286,  293,  311,  373. 
Mahometanism,  317. 
Mahura,  52. 

Maine,  Sir  H.  Sumner,  361. 
Maize,  260,  32.3,  380.  394,  396. 


INDEX. 


499 


Makalaka,  48. 

Makhatla,  71. 

Maklisoora,  378. 

Makololo,  110,  137,  145,  207,  234,  248, 
251,  315,  310,  321,  351  ;  begiu  to 
practise  slave-trade,  118;  change  in 
chiefship  ;  guides  for  Livingstone,  150; 
accompany  Livingstone  to  Loanda, 
153  tt  seq.  ;  accompany  Livingstone 
to  Quilimane,  170  e<  seq.;  Livingstone 
returns  to  Barotse  with,  247,  266  et 
seq. ;  Livingstone's  opinion  of,  407, 
441. 

Makonde,  372,  472. 

Malachite,  398. 

Malatzi,  132,  167. 

!Malmesbury,  Lord,  250. 

Malopo,  river,  137. 

"  Malwa,"  P.  and  0.  steamer,  451. 

Mambwe,  383. 

Ma-mochisaue,  113,  140,  144, 

Manchester,  visit  to,  218. 

Manganja,  253,  285,  286,  293,  294,  296, 
317,  396. 

JIanioc-roots,  187. 

Mann,  Mr.,  3S4,  394,  397,  404,  441. 

Manners,  Lord  John,  353. 

Manwa  Sera.  439. 

Manyuema,  97,  216,  340,  389,  391,  et  seq. 
419,  435,  462.       ' 

Mapira,  448. 

Maples,  Rev.  Chauncy,  472. 

Mapunda,  379. 

Marenga,  378,  379. 

Marianno,  a  slave  agent,  310. 

Marigolds,  440. 

"Ma-Robert,"  steam-launch,  241,  et  seq., 
265,  et  seq. 

Masakasa,  274. 

Masasi,  469. 

Mataka,  373,  375,  472. 

Matebele,  54,  112,  151,  234. 

Matiamvo,  151,  173. 

Maunku,  111. 

Mauritius,  196. 

Mazitu,  319,  378,  395. 

Mbame,  285. 

Means,  Rev.  Dr.,  470. 

Mebalwe,  56,  01,  68,  72,  80,  81,  92, 104, 
126,  134,  167,  172. 

Medical  missions,  19,  470. 

Menelek,  king  of  Shoa,  465. 

Meriye,  132,  148. 

Meroe  City,  398. 

Methonica  gloriosa,  440. 

Mikindany,  371. 

Mimosa,  40. 


Mirambo,  419. 

Mirauda,  Lieutenant,  193. 

Missions.  See  American  Foreign,  Ba])- 
tist  Missionary  Society,  Blantyre  on 
Shir6,  Church  jNIissionary  Society, 
Hanoverian,  .lesuit,  Livingstone  In- 
land, Livingstonia,  Loudon  City,  Lon- 
don Missionary  Society,  IMedical, 
Motito  (French),  Societe  des  Missions 
Evangeliques,  South  Sea,  Universities. 

"Missionary  Travels,''  15,  OS,  89,  100. 
109,  110,  137,  151,  156,  194,  196,  209, 
213. 

Mitchell,  Rev.  J.,  of  Poona,  335. 

Mkouta,  470. 

Moenekuss,  392,  393,  394. 

Moero,  Lake,  316,  382,  383,  387,  389, 

396,  436,  442,  467  ;  discovery  of,  38-'. 
Moffat,  Rev.  Dr.,  34,  39,  41,  61,  70,  75, 

9.3,  107,  124,  126,  128,  129,  138,  158, 
176,  177,  194,  246,  271,  283,  298,  389, 
452;  letters  to,  94,  118,  132,  152,  248, 
275  ;  recollections  bj',  34,  35. 

Mrs.,  115,   127,  301  ;  letters  from, 

176,200;  letters  to,  177,302,  301,305. 

.Janet,  wife  of  David  Hunter,  7. 

John,  234,  275,  330. 

Marj\     See  Mrs.  D.  Livingstone. 

Rol)ert,  son  of  Dr.  Moffat,  152. 

Robert,  grandson  of  Dr.  Moffat,  35, 

449  ;  death  of,  302. 

Mohamad  bin  Saleh,  413. 

Mohamad  Bogharib,  384,  385,  387,  388, 

397,  407,  408. 

Moir,  Rev.  .John,  19,  31. 

Mokhatla,  79,  92. 

Molemba,  383. 

Molilamo,  river  (or  Lulimala),  445. 

Mombasa,  430. 

Monk,  Rev.  William,  225,  228,  468. 

Monteiro,  Colonel,  109. 

Monteith,  Henry,  5. 

Moore,  Rev.  Joseph,  25,  36,  136  ;  letters 

to,  135,  278,  283,  321,  340  ;  recoUec- 

tions  of  I^ivingstone  bj',  26  et  seq. 
Morumbala,  326. 
Mosapo,  3  ]  9. 
Mosilikatse,  43,  48,  54,  79,  82,  114,  176, 

234,  246,  271,  275. 
Mosquitoes,  9.5,  104,  110,  154,  323. 
Motito,  52,  70,  106. 
Motlube,  151. 
Moyimang,  71. 
Mozambique,  280,  281,291,292,  302,  308, 

325-327  ;  Governor  of,  193,  308. 
Mpbala  Island,  442. 
Mpende,  182,  270. 


500 


INDEX. 


Mpepe,  140,  144. 

Mtesa,  chief  of  Waganda,  464,  469. 

Murchison,  Sir  Eorlerick,  169,  184,  235, 
242,  2.-)5,  261,  338,  342,  348,  350,  3r)3, 
354,  358  ;  attachment  of  Livingstone 
to,  5  ;  opinion  of  Livingstone's  work, 
201,  203,  205,  214,  236  Turges  Living- 
stone to  write  a  book,  208  ;  views  on 
African  geologj',  318  ;  urges  Living- 
stone to  explore  the  Nile  sources,  349, 
375,  o95 ;  organises  Search  Expedi- 
tion, 379  ;  letters  from.  185,  239,  288, 
349  ;  letters  to,  192,  224,  268,  280, 
304,  307,  310  ;  death  of,  437,  451. 

Murchison,  Lady,  304,  338  ;  death  of, 
406. 

Cataracts,  253,  260,  264,  287,  312, 

313,  315,  379,  465,  471. 

Murphy,  Lieut.,  ll.N.,  405,  447,  448. 

Murray,  John  (Livingstone's  fellow-tra- 
veller), 99,  102,  158,  280. 

John  (publisher),  208,  215,  339,  357, 

367. 

Musa,  one  of  the  Johanna  men,  370,  378, 
379,  406. 

Musa  bin  Salim,  388. 

Musnrus  Pasha,  343. 

Mutake,  374. 

Mvula-tree,  447,  46L 

Myonga-tree,  447. 

jSTaliele,  281. 

Nasonsa,  441. 

Nassick  boys,  361,  366,  370,  372. 

Xatal,  340. 

Ndonde,  361. 

Negroes,  158,  173,  354. 

New,  Rev.  Charles,  430,  431. 

Xevvstead  A1)bey,  346  cC  seq.,  412. 

Newton,  Dr.,  of  Philadelphia,  255. 

"New  York  Herald,"  67,  413,  417,  428, 
435,  466. 

'Ngami,  Lake,  40,  49,  62,  98,  100,  101, 
10.5,106,  120,  126,  184,275,  289,  399, 
467;  discovery  of,  101. 

Niger  Exjiedition,  29,  275. 

Nightingale,  Florence,  letter  from,  458. 

Nile  Elver,  exploration  of  sources  under- 
taken at  request  of  Geographical  So- 
ciety, 337,  349,  395  ;  hardships  of  the 
search,  394  ;  Livingstone's  impression 
that  soui-ces  were  higher  than  Nyanza, 
376  ;  Livingstone's  theory  of  sources 
in  Bangweolo  watershed,  387,  397, 
401,  414  ;  theory  of  inundation,  416  ; 
sjionge  theory  of  sources,  387  ;  account 
of  sources  given  to  Herodotus,  377  ; 


Ptolemy's  description  of  source,  396  ; 
Miss  Tinne's  explorations  of,  398  ; 
natives  sceptical  of  object  of  Living- 
stone's exploration,  426 ;  Livingstone's 
doubts  of  his  own  theorj',  408,  435  j 
theory  finally  disproved,  414,  467. 

Nindi,  395. 

Nunes,  Jose,  Colonel,  258. 

Nyangvve,  408,  420,  438. 

Nyanza,  Victoria,  376,  398,  450,  464. 

Nyassa,  Lake,  22,  247,  260,  303,  327; 
discovery  of,  258  ;  Living^^tone's  plan 
for  a  steamer  on,  208,  315  ;  different 
routes  to,  272,  280  ;  travels  in  Nyassa 
district,  283  et  seq.,  306  et  seq.  ;  slave- 
trade  in  district,  288  et  seq. ;  Living- 
stone's schemes  for  exploration,  350  ; 
reaches  the  lake,  373  ;  Search  Expe- 
dition in  Nyassa  district,  399;  nomen- 
clature of  the  lake,  442  ;  missionary 
and  commercial  ])rojects  in  Nyassa 
district,  465  et  seq. 

Oldfield,  Captain,  E.N.,  279,  327,  349, 
359. 

Ophthalmia,  51. 

Orange  Pdver,  39,  62. 

Orchids,  440. 

"Orestes,"  H.M.S.,  325-327. 

Ornament,  lip,  259.   ' 

Ornithology.  See  Bee-eaters,  Cranes, 
Fish-eagle,  Geese,  Guinea-fowl,  Hum- 
ming-birds, Ostrich,  Parrot,  Sjtarrows, 
Sun-birds,  Turtle-doves,  Wagtail,  Why- 
dahs. 

Orphanage,  St.  George's,  Cape  Town,  322. 

Ostrich,  51,  120,  277. 

Oswell,  William  C,  127,  255,  280  ;  his 
description  of  Kolobeng,  84  ;  accom- 
panies Livingstone  to 'Ngami,  Linyanti, 
and  Sesheke,  99  et  seq.;  meets  Living- 
stone at  Geographical  Societ}',  201  ; 
Livingstone's  opinion  of,  355  ;  Living- 
stone bids  farewell  to,  357  ;  at 
Livingstone's  funeral,  452. 

Mrs.,  357. 

Otis,  Mr.,  470. 

Owen,  Commodore,  275,  299. 

Owen,  Professor,  32,  40,  5),  83,  203,  205, 
210,  237,  242,  255,  394,  414  e«  seq. 

O.v,  154,  160,  161. 

Oxford,  225  et  seq.,  355. 

Oysters,  410. 

Palmerstox,  Lord,  230,  231,  245,  255, 

270,  338,  341,  351,  390. 
Palms,  393,  394  ;  palm-oil,  394,  414. 


INDEX. 


50' 


Pangola,  270. 

Papyrus,  414. 

Parrot,  394. 

Parsnips,  440. 

Paul,  a  native  couvert,  79,  92,  134. 

Peaches,  39(5. 

"Pearl,"  H.M.S.,  241,  248,  249. 

Peas,  440. 

"Penguin,"  H.iM.S.,  368,  370. 

Pennell,  .John,  329,  333. 

Philip,  liev.  Dr.,  38,  263. 

Phillip,  .John,  R.A.,  456. 

Pilanies,  92. 

"Pioneer"  (steam  launch),  252,  282  el 
seq.,  316,  325-327. 

Plantains,  394. 

Playfair,  Eight  Hon.  Lyon,  21. 

Pneumonia,  399,  424. 

Pogge,  Dr.,  466. 

Polwarth,  Lord,  457. 

Pol^'galas,  440. 

Pomare,  44. 

Ponigranate  flowers,  437. 

Pooiia,  335,  361;  mission  schools  at, 
335. 

Port-Elizabeth,  40. 

Portuual,  H.M.  the  King  of,  191,  231, 
232,  322. 

Portuguese,  255,  279,  307,  337,  350, 
358  ;  intrigue  for  establishing  slave- 
trade  with  ^lakololo,  143  ;  kindness 
to  Livingstone,  162,  190,  193,  202, 
203,  272  ;  enlightened  views  of,  163  ; 
slave-trade,  172,  271,  272,  284,  308, 
309,  313  H  .se(i.,  465  ;  discoveries  and 
travels,  .192,  193,  280,  308,  442;  mis- 
sions, 192  ;  fail  to  help  Makololo, 
208,  251  ;  evils  of  colonisation,  273  ; 
Livingstone  thwarted  by,  269,  283, 
.313 ;  complaints  of  Liv^ingstone  by,  295, 
345  ;  remonstrated  with  by  English 
Government,  309  ;  treaty  with,  351. 

Potatoes,  sweet,  394. 

Potgeiter,  Hendriek,  90,  92. 

Powel,  Captain,  197. 

Pretorias,  91,  133. 

Price,  Roger,  361. 

Prideaux,  Ca])tain,  449. 

Prince  Consort,  H.E.H.  the,  29,  213, 
231,  314. 

Pringle,  Mr.,  of  Tinnevelly,  59. 

Ptolemy,  396,  398,  436. 

Pumpkins,  396. 

"  Punch,"  83  ;  Livingstone's  enjoyment 
of,  287,  347,  399  ;  elegy  from,  454. 

Pungo-Andongo,  171,  184. 

Pusey,  Dr.,  294. 


Qttango,  river,  161. 

"  Quarterlj'  Review,"  414. 

Queen,  Her  Majesty  the,  103,  126,  179, 

227,  235,  303,  432. 
Quilimane,  170,  177,  184,  193,  194,  195, 

196,  202,  207,  230,  234,  251,  255,  309, 

465. 

R.iD.STOCK,  Lord,  218. 

Rae,  George,  230,  266,  209,  311,  328. 

Ravensworth,  Lord,  333. 

Rawlinson,  ^ir  Henry,  448,  450,  451. 

Redcliffe,  Lady,  339. 

Reid,  John,  336,  379. 

Rhinoceros,  44,  51,  83,  92,  93,  271. 

Rigby,  Colonel,  288. 

Rio  da  Senna,  192. 

Rio  de  Janeiro,  37. 

Rivers.  See  Chambeze,  Chimbwe,  Chobe, 
Chongwe,  Coanza,  Congo,  Leeba, 
Loangwa,  Loangwa  of  Nyassa,  Lomame, 
Lonta,  Lualaba,  Luamo,  Luapula,  Lu- 
fira,  Lusize,  Molilamo,  Niger,  Nile, 
Orange  River,  Quango,  Rovuma,  Ruo, 
Shire,  Tamanak'le,  Teoge,  Zambesi, 
Zouga. 

Robertson,  Dr.„  of  Swellendam,  92. 

Roga,  Jose  da,  Ca])taiu,  192. 

Romilly,  Sir  J.,  353. 

Roscher,  Dr.,  259. 

Ross,  Rev.  William,  37. 

Rossie  Priory,  224. 

Rovuma,  river,  247,  272,  279,  2S3  ct 
seq.,  307,  337,  349,  351,  358,  370  tt 
seq.,  409,  472. 

Rowley,  Rev.  Henry,  294-296,  345. 

Royal  Acadeni}',  352. 

Royal  Society,  225. 

Rua,  383,  385,  389,  42.5. 

Ruo,  river,  289,  292,  293. 

Russell,  Earl,  266,  209,  308,  309,  312, 
314,  339,  353. 

Rutherfoord,  Mr.,  133,  137,  205-207,  213. 

Rutnagerry,  333. 

Sal.sette  Island,  363. 

"  Saturday  Review,"  360,  369. 

Schift,  Lieutenant  von,  363. 
\  Scndamore,  Rev.  Mr.,  284,  311,  321. 
i  Search  Expedition,  379,  399,  431. 
i  Sebehwe,  ti8,  49,  51,  52. 
j  Sebituane,  98  et  seq.,  132,  136,  137,  139, 
!       149,  194;  death  of,  111. 
!  Sebubi,  134. 

-  Sechele  (chief  of  the  Bakwains),  53,  54, 
!  74,  76-80,  85  et  seq.,  98,  99,  104,  126, 
I       1.34,  136,  195,  275  ;  baptism  of,  92. 


502 


INDEX. 


Sedgwick,  Professor,  226,  314 ;  letter 
from,  23S,  239. 

Sehamy,  death  of,  03. 

Seipone,  132,  14S. 

Sekeletu,  140,  141,  143-145,  151,  153, 
156,  166-168,  178,  180,  203,  232,  247, 
268,  273-275  ;  deatli  of,  276. 

Sekomi,  47,  99,  100,  117. 

Sekwebu,  suicide  of,  196. 

Semelle,  Lieutenant  de,  467. 

Senna,  193,  278,  442. 

Sepoys,  367,  370,  372,  373,  378,  384. 

Serpents,  Sea,  333,  335. 

Sesheke,  113,  117,  144,  274,  277. 

Setefano,  baptism  of,  92. 

Seward,  Dr.,  of  Zanzibar,  378. 

Sliaftesbury,  Lord,  204,  230,  262,  339. 
341  ;  Lady  Shaftesbury,  339,  341. 

Sharks,  330,  367. 

Sliaw  (Mr.  Stanley's  English  attendant), 
death  of,  427. 

Sheep,  394. 

Shelley,  Mrs.  Bysshe,  118. 

Shereef,  408,  412. 

Sherman,  Rev.  Mr.,  26. 

Shidina  country,  252. 

Shire,  river,  247  et  scq.,  268  e.t  acq.,  283 
el  seq.,  .307,  313,  321,  326,  351,  374, 
375,  399,  416,  465,  468. 

Sliirwa,  Lake,  255,  256,  259,  467  ;  dis- 
covery of,  255. 

Shoa,  465. 

Shobo,  Bushman  guide,  109,  110,  117. 

Shupanga,  247,  249,  293,  297  ;  death  of 
Mrs.  Living.stone  at,  299,  300,  452. 

Sicard,  Major,  190,  251,  312,  313. 

Sichuana  language,  54,  72,  96,  123,  158, 
173,  248. 

Sierra  Leone,  244,  247. 

Silva  Porto  (a  Portuguese  trader),  280, 
281. 

Sime,  Mrs,,  28. 

Simon's  Bay,  247,  248. 

.Sinamanero,  279. 

Skead,  Mr.,  248. 

Slaves,  Slavery,  Shvve-trade — Makololo 
begin  to  practise  slaverj',  118  ;  slave- 
I'roducing  region,  121  ;  efforts  to  stop 
slave-trade  in  Central  Africa,  122,  125, 
203,  278,  314;  slave-trade  of  Boers, 
135  ;  intrigues  of  Portuguese  for  estab- 
lishing slave-trade,  143  ;  slavery  in 
Makololo  country,  HQ  e(  srq.  ;  slaves 
in  chains,  146,  159  ;  dislike  of  slave- 
trade  by  some  Portuguese,  163;  slavery 
iu  Portuguese  settlements,  1  72  et  seq., 
191  :   Livin2;stone  mistaken  for  slave- 


trader,  188,  317,  471  ;  exposnre  of 
slave-trade  by  Livingstone,  233,-  323, 
337,  347,  350,  443 ;  slave-trade  in 
Shire  district,  256  et  seq. ;  effect  of 
slave-trade  in  Zambesi  Valley,  267, 
273,  311  ;  Livingstone  known  as  the 
white  man  "  who  did  not  make  slaves," 

270,  408  ;    Portuguese   slave  trading, 

271,  281,  284,  308,  310,  322,  324, 
337  ;    attack  of  Ajawa   slave-traders, 

286  ;    slave-trade  in  Nyassa  district, 

287  et  seq.  ;  release  of  slaves  by  Living- 
stone, 295,  296  ;  remonstrances  of 
English  to  Portuguese  Government, 
309  ;  rescued  slaves  sent  to  the  Cape, 
321,  326  ;  slaves  in  Mozaml)ique,  327; 
slave-trade  in  Persian  Gulf,  336 ;  Lord 
Palraerston's  efforts  for  abolition  of 
slave-trade,  338,  402  ;  Africans  unde- 
filed  by  slave-trade,  354,  395  ;  Zanzi- 
bar slave-market,  369  ;  horrors  <>f 
Arab  slave-trade  in  Nyassa  district, 
372  et  seq.  ;  slave-trade  in  Bangvveolo 
and  Ujiji  districts,  385,  387  et  seq., 
.391  et  seq.  ;  Livingstone's  views  on 
American  slavery,  394,  395  ;  tribute 
to  Mrs.  Stowe,  399 ;  gratitude  of 
Livingstone  to  enemies  of  slaverj^  402 ; 
despair  of  Livingstone,  403  ;  free  Afri- 
cans compared  with  slaves,  406  ;  Ba- 
nians' slaves  sent  to  Li\"ingstoue  from 
Zanzibar,  407,  411  ;  mission  of  Sir 
Bartle  Erere  to  abolish  slave-trade, 
411;  treaty  with  Sultan  of  Zanzibar, 
463  ;  efforts  of  Colonel  Gordon  to 
abolish,  463  ;  abolition  of  slave-trade 
by  King  Mtesa,  464. 

Smith,  Dr.,  470. 

Dr.  Andrew,  103,  255. 

—  .John  Russell,  96. 

Rev.  John,  176. 

Sir  Harry,  134. 

Smith's  "Dictionary  of  the  Bible,"  383. 

Smyth,  Rear- Admiral  ^Y.,  R.N.,  102. 

"  Societe  des  Missions  Evano;eliques,"  409. 

Soko,  392,  394,  397,  401,  405. 

Solomon,  Saul,  213. 

Somerset,  Duke  and  Duchess  of,  353. 

Souilan,  463,  465. 

South  Sea  missions,  175. 

Si)arrows,  95. 

Speke,  Captain,  266,  344,  398,  437,  406. 

Spider,  414. 

Spiderworts,  440. 

Spring-bucks,  106. 

St.  Cruz  (a  trader),  254. 

Stanford  Rivers,  28,  29. 


INDEX. 


503 


Stanley,  Henry  Moreland — journey  to 
Ujiji,  413,  417  e<  seq. ;  meeting  with 
Livingstone,  420  ;  travels  with  Living- 
stone, 417  et  seq.  ;  jiarts  from  Living- 
stone, 427, 428 ;  efforts  for  Livingstone, 
429  et  seq. ;  reception  in  England, 
431  et  seq.  ;  impressions  of  Livingstone, 
422  et  seq.  ;  Livingstone's  regard  for, 
420,  435  ;  exploration  of  Livingstone 
Eiver,  4(55. 

Stanley's  "How  I  found  Livingstone," 
432. 

Steele,  General  Sir  T.  M.,  59,  114,  118, 
165,  185,  201,  202,  255,  341  ;  com- 
municates Livingstone's  letters  to 
Geographical  Society,  102,  127. 

Steere,  Bishop,  374,  469. 

Stephen,  Sir  James,  324. 

Stevenson,  James,  465. 

Stewart,  Colonel,  335. 

llev.   Dr.,  of  J-ovedale,   234,  289, 

291,  292,  298,  305,  315,  321,  362, 
452  ;  founds  Livingstonia,  468. 

James,  C.E.,  468. 

Stowc,  Mrs.,  399. 

Sturge,  Josepli,  267. 

Sugar,  191,  260,  280,  323;  sugar-cane, 
394  ;  sugar-mill,  267. 

Sun-birds,  437. 

"  Sunday  Magazine,"  292. 

Susi,  a  Shupanga  man,  370,  401,  403, 
419,  445  et  seq. 

Sutherland,  Duchess-Dowager  of,  356. 

Syde  bin  Habib,  407. 

Syedbin  Majib,  413,  425. 

Syme,  Professor,  341. 

Table  Bay,  247. 

Tagaraoio,  410. 

Tahiti,  162. 

Tamanak'le  river,  100,  102,  104,  122. 

Tanuanj'ika,  Lake,  349,  359,  380  t-t  seq., 

409,  418,  434,438,  441,  406,  467. 
Tattam's  Coptic  Grammar,  etc.,  96. 
Taylor,  Isaac,  27,  28,  127. 

llev.  Isaac,  recollections  by,  28. 

Lev.  Joseph  v.  S.,  27. 

Teredo,  278. 

Tette,  184,  190,  192,  193,  207,  247  etseq., 

267  et  seq.,  308  et  seq.,  442. 
Teoge,  river,  106. 
Thoni,  John,  of  Chorley,  262. 
Thompson,  Rev.  William,  195,  205,  206. 
Thomson,  Joseph,  466. 

• Professor  James,  22. 

Sir  William,  22. 

Thornton,  llichard,  230,  311. 


"Thule,"  366,  367. 

Tidman,  Pvev.  Dr.  A.,  56,  102,  228. 

"  Times,"  The,  294. 

Tin,  80. 

Tiune,  Miss,  360,  398,  399. 

Tobacco,  323. 

Tozer,  Bishop,   320,  321,  323,   326,  374, 

400,  419. 
Transvaal,  78,  135. 
Tregear,  Captain,  197. 
Trenn,  Herr,  363. 
Trotter,  Admiral,  E.N.,  196,  218. 
Tsetse,  8,  61,  83,  87,  104,  114,  117,  183, 

323,  371. 
Tunis,  Bay  of,  19(5,  197. 
Turner,  J.  A.,  of  Manchester,  262. 
Turtle-dove,  373,  445. 
"  Tom  Brown's  School  Days,"  355. 

Ufipa,  434. 

Ugogo  Country,  448. 

Ujiji,  340,  383  et  seq.,  391  et  seq.,  419  et 
seq.,  433  et  seq. 

Ulenge,  Lake,  383. 

Ulva  Island,  1,  2,  4,  237,  342. 

Universities  Mission,  247,  310,  314,  330, 
374,  400,  445,  472  ;  letter  to  Secre- 
tary of,  216  ;  Livingstone's  delight  at 
prospect  of  mission,  272,  278,  279, 
283,284;  recommendations  for  mission 
staff,  280  ;  work  of  the  mission,  282 
et  seq.  ;  conflicts  with  slave-traders, 
286,  289  ;  death  of  Bishop  Mackenzie, 
293  ;  Bishop  Tozer  succeeds  Macken- 
zie, 320  ;  abandonment  of  the  mission 
on  the  continent,  320;  resuscitation 
under  Bislicip  Steere,  374,  469. 

Unyamwezi,  387. 

Unyanyembe,  388,  419  et  seq.,  433  et  seq. 

Urungu,  392,  441. 

"Valorous,"  H.M.S.,  327. 
Vardou,  Major,  201,  202,  255. 
Vater,  Professor,  96. 
Venn,  :^ev.  H.,  255,  267. 
Victoria  Falls,    113,   179,  184,  275,  309, 
348,  467  ;  discovery  of,  179. 

Wagtail,  437. 

Wainwright,  Jacob,  439,  447,  452. 

■  John,  439. 

Waiyau,  370,  373,  374. 

Waller,  Rev.  Horace,  284,  294,  300,  313, 

316,  326,  327,  352,  357,  379,  387,  427, 

445,  447,  451,  452. 
Warburg's  Drops,  275. 
Wardlaw,  Rev.  Dr.,  20,  21,  108. 


504 


INDEX. 


AVashington,     Capt.,     E.N.,    213,    232, 

255. 
Watson,  Dr.  and  Miss,  343. 
Watt,  Rev.   G.   D.,  33,  50,   74;  letters 

to,  37,  41,  Co,  70,  82,  S3,  85,  95,  102, 

103,  105,  128,  135. 
Watuta,  3i)5. 
Webb,   W.  F.,  of  Newstead  Abbey,  343, 

346-318,  351),   397,  402,  452;  letters 

to,  345,  353,  355,  357. 

Mrs.,  343,  346. 

Mr.,  Americaa  Consul  at  Zanzibar, 

427,  439. 
Webb's  lliver.     fica  Lnalaba. 
Wellington,  Duke  of,  130. 

Duchess  of,  339. 

West  Luabrt,  or  Hoskiu's  Branch,  247. 
Whately,    Miss,    250,    360 ;    sugar-mill, 

gift  of,  2G7. 
Wheat,  3:)G. 
Whydahs,  436. 

Wylde,  Mr.,  of  Foreign  Office,  357. 
Wikatani,  336,  371,  375,  379. 
Wilberforce,  Bisliop,  29,  237,  255,  353. 
Williamson,  Mrs.,  of  Widdiconibe,  367. 
Wilson,    Capt.,    R.K,    293,    294,    297, 

302. 
• — —  Rev.  Dr.,  Bombay,  336,  362,  364. 

.  Dr.  George,  2,  23. 

'  James,  255. 

Wood,  Sir  Charles,  339. 
WoodrufTe,  Lieutenant,  R.K,  194. 
Wordsworth,  Mr.,  of  Poona,  336. 

Yams,  160. 

York,  Archbishop  of,  353. 

Young,  E.  D.,  R.N.,  joins  Zambesi  Ex- 
pedition, 311,  316,  322;  Search  Ex- 
pedition, 22,  379,  399;  at  Living- 
stone's funeral,  452  ;  Livingstonia 
Mission,  22,  469. 

James,  of  Kelly,    293,   328,  347  ; 

college  companionship  -with  Living-  j 
stone,  1\  et  scq. ;  visited  by  Living- 
stone, 341  ;  Livingstone  names  river 
after,  402 ;  promotes  expedition  to 
assist  Livingstone,  450;  letters  to,  218, 
237,  247,  250,  252,  261,  272,  277,  279, 
288,  313.  .351,  364,  443. 

Young's  River.     »S'ee  Lomame. 


Zambesi  River,  120,  123,  166,  167,  205, 
219,  231,  2.34,  340,  390  ;  discovery  of 
Upper  Zambesi,  113  ;  Zambesi  coun- 
try the  slave-producing  region,  121  ; 
variations  of  name,  144 ;  journey 
to  Loanda  along  the,  156 ;  journey 
to  Quilimane  dovi^n  the,  179  i'i  scij.  ; 
Zambesi  Expedition  organised,  230  ; 
cxi)loration  of  Zambesi  and  tribu- 
taries, 241  et  Kc'i-  ;  journey  home 
■with  Makololo  up  the  Zambesi,  265 
et  sp'f.  ;  Universities  Mission  in  Zam- 
besi district,  283  et  seq.  :  last  two 
years  of  Zambesi  Expedition,  306 
et  seq.  ;  Livingstone  leaves  the  Zam- 
besi, 325,  326  ;  treaty  with  Portugal 
for  free  navigation  of  Zambesi,  351  ; 
Livingstone  wishes  to  establish  station 
in  Zambesi  valley,  375  ;  theory  of  the 
sources  of  Zambesi,  387  ;  inundations 
of,  explained,  415,  416  ;  Chambeze 
mistaken  for,  442;  French  Mission 
near  head  waters  of,  470. 

"  Zambesi  and  its  Tributaries,"  97,  244, 
276,  277,  285,  287,  290,  295,  298,  345, 
347,  358,  402. 

Zanzibar,  119,  260,  363,  397,  400,  406, 
430,  433,  439,  465  ;  LTniversities  mis- 
sion removed  to,  320  ;  Livingstone 
reaches,  after  Zambesi  expedition, 
328  ;  Kirk  appointed  consul  at,  366  ; 
Livingstone  arrives  at,  on  last  expedi- 
tion, 368  ;  Livingstone  leaves  for 
Rovuma,  370  ;  Stanley  reaches,  418  ; 
returns  to,  427  ;  attendants  convey 
Livingstone's  body  to,  446-449  ;  Sir 
Bartle  Frere's  mission  to,  462,  463. 

— — •  Sultan  of,  366,  368,  370,  388,  463. 

Zeeaml)ye  or  Kabompo  river,  189.  See 
Zambesi. 

Zomba,  Mount,  256,  289. 

Zoology.  See  Alligators,  Antelopes,  Ants, 
Buffalo,  Camel,  Camelo])ard,  Dezi,  Dol- 
jjhin,  Elephants,  Goats,  Hi])popolamus, 
Hyena,  Konokono,  Land-fish,  Lions, 
^Mosquitoes,  Rhinoceros,  Serpents, 
Sharks,  Sheep,  Soko,  Spring-bucks, 
Tsetse. 

Zouga  river,  100-102,  104,  109,  117. 

Zumbo,  ruiu:j  of  Jesuit  missions  at,  270. 


VALUABLE  WORKS 

OF 

AFRICAN  EIPLORATION  AND  ADfENTURE. 

Published  l)y  HARPER  &  BROTHERS,  Jew  York. 


5;;^°  Harper  &  Brothers  loill  send  any  of  the  followhifj  loorlcH  {except  Stanley's  '■'■TJirovgh 
the  Dark  Continent")  by  mail,  jMstaye  jwepaid,  to  any  part  of  the  United  States,  on 
receipt  of  the  price. 

LIVINGSTONE'S  EXPEDITION  TO  THE  ZAMBESI.  Narrative  of 
an  Expedition  to  the  Zambesi  and  its  Tributaries,  and  of  the  Dis- 
covery of  the  Lakes  Shirwa  and  Nyassa.  1858-1864.  By  David 
and  Charles  Livingstone.  With  Map  and  Ilkistrations.  8vo,  Cloth, 
65  00  ;  Slieep,  $5  50  ;  Half  Calf,  $7  25. 

LIVINGSTONE'S  SOUTH  AFRICA.  Missionary  Travels  and  Researches 
in  South  Africa ;  including  a  Sketch  of  Sixteen  Years'  liesidence  in 
the  Interior  of  iVfrica,  and  a  Journey  from  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope 
to  Loanda  on  the  West  Coast ;  thence  across  the  Continent,  down  the 
River  Zambesi,  to  the  Eastern  Ocean.  By  David  Livingstone,  LL.D., 
D.C.L.  With  Portrait,  Maps,  and  numerous  Illustrations.  8vo,  Cloth, 
$4  50 ;  Sheep,  $5  00  ;  Half  Calf,  $6  75. 

LIVINGSTONE'S  LAST  JOURNALS.  The  Last  Journals  of  Dr.  Liv- 
ing-stone in  Central  Africa,  from  1865  to  his  Death.  Continued  by 
a  Narrative  of  his  Last  Moments  and  Sufferings,  obtained  from  his 
Faithful  Servants,  Chuma  and  Susi.  By  Horace  Waller,  F.R.G.S., 
Rector  of  Twywell,  Northampton.  With  Maps  and  Illustrations. 
8vo,  Cloth,  $5  00  ;  Sheep,  $5  50  ;  Half  Calf,  $7  25.  Cheap  Edition, 
with  Map  and  Illustrations,  8vo,  Cloth,  $2  50. 

STANLEY'S  AFRICAN  EXPLORATIONS.  Through  the  Dark  Conti- 
nent ;  or,  The  Sources  of  the  Nile,  Around  the  Great  Lakes  of  Equa- 
torial Africa,  and  Down  the  Livingstone  River  to  the  Atlantic  Ocean. 
By  Henry  M.  Stanley.  With  149  Illustrations  and  10  valuable 
Maps.  2  vols.,  8vo,  Cloth,  $10  00  ;  Sheep,  $12  00  ;  Half  Morocco  or 
Half  Calf,  $15  00.     {Sold  hy  Subscription  only.) 


Wo7'ls  of  African  Exploration  and  Adventure. 


CAMERON'S  ACROSS  AFRICA.  Across  Africa.  By  Verney  Lovett 
Camerox,  C.B.,  D.C.L.,  Commander  Royal  Navy,  Gold  Medalist 
Royal  Geographical  Society,  &c.  "With  Map  and  numerous  Illustra- 
tions.    8vo,  Cloth,  $5  00. 

LONG'S  CENTRAL  AFRICA.  Central  Africa:  Naked  Truths  of  Naked 
People.  An  Account  of  Expeditions  to  the  Lake  Victoria  Nyanza 
and  the  Makraka  Niam-Niam,  West  of  the  Bahr-El-Abiad  (White 
Nile).  By  Col.  C.  Chaille  Long,  of  the  Egyptian  Staff.  Illustrated 
from  Colonel  Long's  own  Sketches.     With  Map.     8vo,  Cloth,  $2  50. 

DU  CHAILLU'S  EQUATORIAL  AFRICA.  Explorations  and  Adven- 
tures in  Equatorial  Africa;  with  Accounts  of  the  Manners  and  Cus- 
toms of  the  People,  and  of  the  Chase  of  the  Gorilla,  the  Crocodile, 
Leopard,  Elephant,  Hipjiopotamus,  and  other  Animals.  By  Paul  B. 
Du  Chaillu.  Illustrated.  8vo,  Cloth,  $5  00  ;  Sheep,  $5  50  ;  Half 
Calf,  $7  25. 

DU  CHAILLU'S  ASHANGO  LAND.  A  Journey  to  Ashango  Land, 
and  Farther  Penetration  into  Equatorial  Africa.  By  Paul  B.  Du 
Chaillu.  Illustrated.  8vo,  Cloth,  $5  00  ;  Sheep,  $5  50  ;  Half  Calf, 
$7  25. 

DE  LEON'S  EGYPT.  The  Khedive's  Egypt ;  or.  The  Old  House  of 
Bondage  under  New  Masters.  By  Edwin  De  Leon.  Illustrated. 
12rao,  Cloth,  $1  50. 

STANLEY'S  COOMASSIE  AND  MAGDALA.  Coomassie  and  Magdala: 
a  Story  of  Two  British  Campaigns  in  Africa.  By  Henry  M,  Stan- 
ley.    With  Maps  and  Illustrations.     8vo,  Cloth,  $3  50. 

SCHWEINFURTH'S  HEART  OF  AFRICA.  The  Heart  of  Africa ;  or, 
Three  Years'  Travels  and  Adventures  in  the  Unexplored  Regions  of 
the  Centre  of  Africa.  From  1868  to  1871.  By  Dr.  Georg  Schwein- 
furth.  Translated  by  Ellen  E.  Frewer.  With  an  Introduction  by 
WiNwooD  Reade.  Illustrated  by  about  130  Woodcuts  and  with  Two 
Maps.     2  vols.,  8vo,  Cloth,  $8  00. 

SPEKE'S  AFRICA.  Journal  of  the  Discovery  of  the  Source  of  the  Nile. 
By  Captain  John  Hanning  Speke.  AVith  Maps  and  Portraits  and 
numerous  Illustrations.  8vo,  Cloth,  $4  00  ;  Sheep,  $4  50  ;  Half  Calf, 
ZQ  25. 


Works  of  African  Exploration  and  Adventure. 


BAKER'S  CENTRAL  AFRICA.  Ismailia :  a  Narrative  of  tlie  Expedi- 
tion to  Central  Africa  for  the  Suppression  of  tlie  Slave-Trade.  Or- 
ganized by  Ismail,  Kliedive  of  Egypt.  By  Sir  Samuel  W.  Baker, 
Paslia,  M.A.,  F.R.S.,  F.R.G.S.  With  Maps,  Portraits,  and  upward  of 
Fifty  full-page  Illustrations  by  Zwecker  and  Durand.  8vo,  Cloth, 
$5  00;  Half' Calf,  $7  25. 

EARTH'S  AFRICA.  Travels  and  Discoveries  in  North  and  Central 
Africa.  Being  a  Journal  of  an  Expedition  undertaken  under  the 
Auspices  of  II.  B.  M.'s  Government  in  the  Years  1849-1855.  By 
Henry  Barth,  Ph.D.,  D.C.L.  Profusely  and  Elegantly  Illustrated. 
Complete  in  3  vols.,  8vo,  Cloth,  $12  00;  Sheep,  $13  50;  Half  Calf, 
$18  75. 

READE'S  SAVAGE  AFRICA.  Western  Africa:  being  the  Narrative 
of  a  Tour  in  Equatorial,  Southwestern,  and  Northwestern  Africa; 
with  Notes  on  the  Habits  of  the  Gorilla;  on  the  Existence  of  Uni- 
corns and  Tailed  Men  ;  on  the  Slave-Trade ;  on  the  Origin,  Character, 
and  Capabilities  of  the  Negro,  and  on  the  Future  Civilization  of 
Western  Africa.  By  AV.  Winwood  Reade.  With  Illustrations  and 
a  Map.     8vo,  Cloth,  $i  00  ;  Sheep,  $4  50  ;  Half  Calf,  $6  25. 

BURTON'S  LAKE  REGIONS  OF  CENTRAL  AFRICA.  The  Lake 
Regions  of  Central  Africa.  A  Picture  of  Exploration.  By  Captain 
Richard  F.  Burton.     Maps  and  Illustrations.     Svo,  Cloth,  $3  50. 

WILSON'S  AFRICA.  Western  Africa:  its  History,  Condition,  and 
Prospects.  By  the  Rev.  J.  Leighton  Wilson,  Eighteen  Years  a 
Missionary  in  Africa,  and  one  of  the  Secretaries  of  the  Presbyterian 
Board  of  Foreign  Missions.     Illustrated.     12mo,  Cloth,  $1  50. 

ANDERSSON'S  LAKE  NGAMI.  Lake  Ngami ;  or,  Explorations  and 
Discoveries  during  Four  Years'  Wanderings  in  the  Wilds  of  South- 
western Africa.  By  Charles  John  Andersson.  Illustrated.  12xao, 
Cloth,  $1  75. 

ANDERSSON'S  OKAVANGO  RIVER.  The  Okavango  River:  a  Nar- 
rative of  Travel,  Exploration,  and  Adventure.  By  Charles  John 
Andersson.  AVith  Steel  Portrait  of  the  Author,  numerous  Illus- 
trations, and  a  Map.     8vo,  Cloth,  $3  25. 


Works  of  African  Exploration  and  Adventure. 


BROWNE'S  YUSEF.  Yiisef ;  or,  Journey  of  the  Fraiigi.  By  J.  Ross 
Browne.     Illustrated.     12mo,  Cloth,  $1  75. 

PRIME'S  BOAT-LIFE  IN  EGYPT  AND  NUBIA.  Boat-Life  in  Egypt 
and  Nuhia.  By  AVilliam  C.  Prime.  Ilhistrated.  12mo,  Cloth, 
$2  00  ;  Half  Morocco,  $3  Vo. 

BALDWIN'S  AFRICAN  HUNTING.  African  Hunting,  from  Natal  to 
the  Zambesi,  including  Lake  Ngami,  the  Kalahari  Desert,  (tc,  from 
1852  to  1860.     By  William  Charles  Baldwin,  F.R.G.S.      With 

Map,  50  Illustrations,  and  a  Portrait.      12rao,  Cloth,  $1  50. 

CUMMING'S  HUNTER'S  LIFE  IN  AFRICA.  Five  Years  of  a  Hun- 
ter's Life  in  the  Far  Interior  of  South  Africa.  With  Notices  of  the 
Native  Tribes,  and  Anecdotes  of  the  Chase  of  the  Lion,  Elephant, 
Hippopotamus,  Giraffe,  Rhinoceros,  &c.  Illustrated.  By  R.  Gordon 
Gumming.     2  vols.,  12mo,  Cloth,  $3  00. 

DAVIS'S  CARTHAGE.  Carthage  and  her  Remains :  being  an  Account 
of  the  Excavations  and  Researches  on  the  Site  of  the  Phoenician 
Metropolis  in  Africa,  and  other  Adjacent  Places.  Conducted  under 
the  Auspices  of  Her  Majesty's  Government.  By  Dr.  N.  Davis, 
F.R.G.S.  Illustrated  with  Maps,  AYoodcuts,  Chromo-Lithographs,  &c. 
8vo,  Cloth,  S-i  00 ;  Half  Calf,  $0  2  5. 

PARK'S  TRAVELS.  Travels  of  lilungo  Park.  With  the  Account  of 
his  Death,  from  the  Journal  of  Isaaco,  and  later  Discoveries  relative  to 
his  lamented  Fate,  and  the  Termination  of  the  Niger.  18mo,  Cloth, 
15  cents. 

LANDERS'  EXPEDITION.  Journal  of  an  Expedition  to  Explore  the 
Course  of  the  Niger.  With  a  Narrative  of  a  Voyage  down  that  River 
to  its  Termination.  By  R.  and  J.  Lander.  Illustrated.  2  vols., 
18mo,  Clotk,  $1  50. 

ELLIS'S  MADAGASCAR.  Three  Visits  to  Madagascar,  during  the  Years 
1853,  1854,  1856.  Including  a  Journey  to  the  Capital,  with  Notices 
of  the  Natural  History  of  the  Country,  and  of  the  Present  Civilization 
of  the  People.  By  the  Rev.  William  Ellis,  F.H.S.  Illustrated  by 
a  Map  and  W^oodcuts.     8vo,  Cloth,  $3  50  ;  Half  Calf,  $5  V5. 

CURTIS'S  NILE  NOTES  OF  A  HOWADJI.  Nile  Notes  of  a  Howadji. 
By  George  William  Curtis.     12mo,  Cloth,  $1  50. 


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